The Fire Lord's Flames
by JHLZ.NTL
Summary: Formerly the Princess's Fire. Beta'ed by the magnificent MusicPlayer81.
1. The Plea

__**A/N**__

 _Welcome, any new readers to this... journey of sorts!  
_

 _Just so you know, there are two parts to this story about Izumi that are completely different from each other but are at the same time about one thing: growth and change._

 _ **Part 1: The Princess's Fire** (Chapters 1-30, Completed) Before the Princess can be expected to establish and maintain peace for her nation, she must first find it within herself._  
 _ **Part 2: The Fire Lord's Flames** (Chapters 31~55, In Progress) Just when the Fire Lord thinks she finally has some semblance of control, it all comes unraveling at the seams._

 _Thanks MusicPlayer81 for being beta from Ch4:). And in case you were wondering, the current cover art was drawn in Medibang Paint and Procreate by me :D_

* * *

"Fire Lord Zuko! Fire Lady Mai! You're both here!" the bright-eyed youth exclaimed running towards the Fire Lord and the Fire Lady wearing his Fire Nation army uniform proudly..

"Of course we are! We haven't seen you in years!" Mai said with a rare smile extending her arms to embrace the young man.

"I've been busy! The company has done so much with the smaller armies and the United Republic! We've built dozens of schools and training centers - AND I helped open a LIBRARY that will rival Wan Shi Tong's! Where's Zumi?"

Zuko turned to Mai. "'Saru, Izumi couldn't be here today. She's been busy,"

"But- she promised she would be here when she returned!" the black-haired, amber-eyed young man said, saddening almost instantly.

"'Saru, she is still a princess of the Fire Nation. She has many duties and obligations to her people that she cannot neglect. Come on. Maybe you will see her at dinner. Besides, you must be tired from your travels." Mai said placing a hand on his shoulder, leading him to the carriage.

'Saru frowned as his surrogate parents lead him to their carriage. Something wasn't right.

* * *

As soon as the door opened he leapt out of the carriage, abandoning his bags and sprinting past the guards.

"'Saru! MASARU, Wait!" Zuko called desperately.

Masaru kicked down the doors to the throne room with a blast of hot red flames.

"Intruder!" a guard yelled as dozens more appeared to stop him.

"He's not an intruder! He was our ward! Leave him! We can handle him!" Zuko yelled at his guards as he and Mai chased the young man through the hall. Mai threw several knives, but Masaru could feel the minuscule amount of heat produced by the particles of air sliding against the blades and ducked pushing them away in flames.

He ran to the resident quarters.

"Zumzu!" He yelled throwing open her door. She turned away from her dressing mirrors with a gasp, surrounded by maids wearing a long, ivory-colored, pearl-beaded dress with wide sleeves and red and gold trim and accent ribbons along the hems of everything.

"Masaru, you shouldn't be in here!" Izumi shrieked covering her exposed neck and clavicle.

"You- you're getting married?" Masaru asked falling to his knees in devastation.

"I can explain!" Izumi said rushing over to him, grabbing onto his hands.

"Princess, who is this man-" a young nobleman presumably from one of the Fire islands asked entering the room from another door.

"LEAVE US NOW!" Izumi yelled at him and her maids. "Masaru, you weren't supposed to see me like this! I was going to tell you at dinner. I-"

"At dinner?" Masaru yelled, offended. "You couldn't put it in a letter? Izumi, I thought we were-!"

"Masaru! You were gone for years. YEARS! I am my father's ONLY child and I'm already twenty. I had to marry someone. Spirits, If the Fire Sages had it their way, I would have been married at sixteen! I have to have children-"

"But I thought we- You said you'd wait for me!"

"That was before-. We could never work, Masaru,"

"But why? We've known each other since we were children, Izumi. I've always loved you and I thought you loved me!"

"I do Masaru! Believe me, I do, but my children have to be Fire Nation, FULL Fire Nation. I love you, but you are still half Earth Kingdom. It is no secret, Masaru. How can it be when your mother invented metalbending? I cannot be with you. My people will question my loyalty to my nation and the last thing I want is for my family to be overthrown. My father has kept peace with the Earth Kingdom and I intend to do the same when the time comes for me to take over, but I cannot keep the peace if the people don't have faith in me. I have to do this. I have to marry Fire Nation. It is the only way."

"But-"

"I'm sorry, Masaru!" Izumi replied hugging him. "I really am! But listen to me, Saru, please! You ARE my oldest friend. My best friend! I promise I will continue to love you until the day I die. If you ever need anything, just ask! I WILL make time for you!" Izumi rubbed his cheeks and eyes and hugged him pressing his head into her chest. "I'm sorry!" she cried.

"Izumi," Zuko said warning standing over them. "You know you aren't supposed to be seen together anymore."

"It was my fault, Lord Zuko," Masaru said standing up, removing Izumi's hands from his shoulders. "I should be leaving now."

"Saru, don't go! Where will you sleep tonight?" Izumi asked stopping him.

"I don't know. There's a nice gutter off Fleabottom that smells a bit more like barbecue pork and a bit less like piss than the rest of the city," Masaru replied bitterly.

Izumi squeezed her eyes shut and blinked away tears of frustration. Masaru knew from the past to duck before being on the receiving end of a fit of rage from Izumi.

"Are you HAPPY NOW?!" Izumi yelled at her father blasting blue fire from her mouth and hands unintentionally at him in her rage.

Zuko split the flames and calmly turned to his former ward. "Masaru, I think it would be better if we found other living accommodations for you, not in the palace," he said.

"Where will I go?" Masaru asked. "Realistically. Where can I go?"

"- and if I find out you let him sleep in some alleyway," Izumi began to threaten her father with a shake of her finger.

"Masaru, your father was a co-owner of a very large and powerful company. Money will not be an issue. The company has been self sufficient for just about a decade by now, but you may take a more active role in it if and when you wish," Mai said. "We can continue to provide what help and guidance we can if you will accept it."

"That would be greatly appreciated, Fire Lady Mai," Masaru said addressing her by her formal title rather than Aunt Mai like he used to use growing up. He turned to his ex-girlfriend. "Princess Izumi, will I ever get to see you again?" Masaru asked.

"I hope so," Izumi whispered with tears in her eyes.

* * *

Izumi pulled out a black cloak with a big hood and slipped out of the palace that night and went to the prison.

"Who goes there?" the guard yelled.

"Why don't you come and find out," she replied from under the hood.

The guard shot a blast of red fire at her.

She returned blue.

Only two people in the world had blue fire and one of them was imprisoned there.

"Princess Izumi!" the man fell to his knees.

"I'm going in for a visit and NO ONE is going to know about it," she replied.

The guard gulped nervously and let her pass.

"Aunt Azula," the princess said kneeling before her father's sister.

"Princess," the disgraced member of the royal family grunted.

"I need to ask for your advice. I don't know if they tell you anything in here, but I am to be married,"

"As is expected of you,"

"But I don't love him,"

"Love is for fools! Fear is the only reliable way!" Azula scoffed.

"So I've been told," Izumi replied cooly, unafraid.

"Why are you really here, dear niece?" Azula asked.

"Because I want to learn how to lie. I want my future husband to trust me, so I can leave. So he won't question my intentions and turn my entire nation against me,"

"And why is that, young lady?" Azula asked leaning closer, intrigued.

"Because I love another, but he is half Earth Kingdom and I don't want to be accused of disloyalty,"

"And my dear, you are doing just that, plotting to be disloyal to your own husband before you're even married."

"But I cannot live without _him_!"

Azula laughed a deranged laugh. "Well you're going to have to, my sweet desperate niece," Azula said slyly.

Izumi turned, spun and blasted the wall with blazing blue fire. The warmth was comforting to Azula.

"I WON'T ACCEPT THAT! I ORDER YOU TO TEACH ME!" Izumi yelled.

Azula chuckled. "You've inherited Zuzu's temper, and my ferocity. How sweet!"

Izumi's face fell. "So you won't teach me?"

"My dear girl!" Azula laughed. "I can teach you anything you want! It will give me something to do, but it won't change anything. It will just be a waste of your time. I've heard of your little boyfriend, Masaru. He is the son of Toph and Satoru, and he's even more honorable than my dear brother. Masaru won't sleep with you once you're married if that's what you wanted. It won't matter how well you can lie and fool your parents, your trainers, your advisors, and your people. Your childhood friend won't allow you to hurt your husband." Azula said leaning against the bars of her cell. "But if you still want to learn, the first step to being a convincing liar is to be in control of everything. Come, meditate me. Control that blue fire in your soul. You may THINK his royal tea-loving cooky-ness has taught you well, but really, he just taught you to the basics. I can teach you the advanced set, my darling niece."

Izumi eyed her aunt skeptically but sat down nonetheless and listened very carefully.

* * *

 _ **A/N**  
This story is of a sequel to _**_"Out of Sight, Out of Mind"_** _, and_ ** _"Don't Say His Name"_** _published in the_ ** _Avatar Last Airbender_** _Category. The first 29 chapters are kind of a prequel to my **Lives Forgotten Series.** It was supposed to be focused on Masaru but became more about Izumi and how she became the perfectly stoic and level-headed Fire Lord we meet in those two episodes in the LoK series.  
_

 _If you don't want to read those two short one-shots, all you need to know is_ ** _Masaru is the son of Satoru Lee and Toph Beifong_** _. (_ ** _Satoru_** _is the engineer from_ ** _the Rift_** _Comic who had the cutest crush on_ ** _Toph_** _[I gave him the hella-generic last name of Lee that Masaru inherited]). He is_ ** _full-brother of Lin Beifong_** _, but **ran away** from home when he was five years old, before **Lin** was born and doesn't know she exists because he shuts _**_Zuko_** _and_ ** _Mai_** _down whenever they bring up anything having to do with his biological family._

 _(Also, I started a prequel to this series called **"Wait for it"** about **Masaru** and **Izumi** adventures growing up together.) _

_LMK what you think! This is my first drama/romance/tragedy piece, so if you have time, please tear it apart with criticism, I will thank you forever. Happy reading! :)  
_


	2. Slipping Up

Izumi didn't see the point to the meditation but nonetheless endured the hours her aunt insisted she sit, focusing only on her breathing.

"Your mind is wandering again," Azula said clicking her tongue with disapproval.

"We've been at it for hours a day for three weeks! Teach me something else, please!" the young princess begged.

"No," Azula replied sitting cross legged in her lowly prison cell with her fists closed over her knees, her eyes still closed and her face perfectly expressionless, her body still as stone.

"Ugh!" Izumi screamed, breaking her lotus position to roar blue fire and stretch.

"If you don't want to learn, you can always return to that dreadfully damask palace and sit in the arms of your future husband like a good little princess and leave me to meditate in peace," Azula reminded Izumi with a smirk.

Izumi growled and saw back down again.

Morning was a dreadfully dull and private affair with only Izumi, her fiancee, Hisoki, and her parents in attendance.

"Princess Izumi, what do you think of the latest protests in the university district?" Hisoki asked his future wife suddenly. "Should we change the new education decree we were originally going to implement starting next week?"

"I'm sorry, what issue was it the students were protesting?" Izumi lifting her eyes to meet her fiancé's away from where they were focused on some nondescript point just beyond her cup of tea.

"They were protesting the use of historical texts authored by the Fire Sages in favor of using texts authored by members of the White Lotus or other multi-national organizations. They are under the impression that the Fire Sages will continue to slant histories to glorify the Fire Nation as they had done during the reigns of Sozin, Azulon, and Ozai. They believe the written works produced by these multi-national organizations will provide more neutral telling of various battles and other events. They further suggest that the purest source of information comes from completely bodies all together neglecting the fact that such documentations may be just as one-sided as those the Fire Sages have been producing for thousands of years," her fiancé explained.

Mai glanced at her daughter, her narrow eyes, narrowing with concern. Izumi seemed distracted more and more lately though Zuko didn't seem to notice the change.

"I think the students are foolish. Their lack in patriotism will cause the nation's influence on the world to fall if they are not careful. We can review and provide... mandatory suggestions for revision for the Fire Sages' next wave of historical publications, but I do not think our decision should be changed. We can make the Sages historical texts include excerpts from foreign primary sources for variety, but I don't think it would be a good idea to fully relinquish control of the writing. Such an action would be the equivalent of sacrificing the minds of the Fire Nation Youth to the White Lotus and other partially or fully foreign-based organizations. Let the students accuse us of censorship. They would not have even known what that term meant if father hadn't opened the floodgates for international travel, tourism, and trade. They should be more grateful for our generosity and mercy. They're all traitors to me, but we've mercy," Izumi answered.

"Hm," Zuko hummed over his tea considering her words carefully. Mai didn't need to hear another word from the girl to make her next move.

"Izumi, help me clear the table please. Breakfast is finished," Mai said standing quickly.

"But-" Zuko began to protest as his Fire Lady/Wife Mai snatched his cup right from under his upper lip.

"We have servant's for this," Izumi argued, defiantly remaining seated.

"Now," Mai snapped leaning towards the young woman. Izumi stood rolling her golden hazel eyes and took hers and her fiancé's cup and plate placing it on the tray with the teapot before following her mother to the kitchens.

"What's the meaning of this, Mother?" Izumi demanded impatiently setting the tray down by the sink.

"I should be asking you the same thing. You've been off lately, Izumi," Mai said with one hand on her hip, leaning on the counter.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Izumi replied defensively, folding her arms..

"You have never tuned out of intellectual discussions before, ESPECIALLY when they pertain to the education sector. Your focus always has been the younger generation since they are the future of our nation, and yet today, you forgot all of the details of the recent University student protests and had to ask Hisoki to recap everything?"

"I'm tired, okay?" Izumi yelled throwing her hands up, turning away. Mai grabbed her daughter's face with one hand and turned it back, her pointer finger pressing into the girl's cheek and her thumb doing the same to the side of the young woman's chin as Mai analyzed her daughter's face. The Princess was wearing face powder, hiding something around her eyes. Circles, shadows maybe?

"How much sleep have you been missing?" Mai asked knowingly.

"Not much! Jeez!" Izumi yelled swatting her mother's hand away, trying to put distance between them.

"Looks like weeks, Zumi. Don't try to run away from this. Talk to me!" Mai insisted.

"I don't want to!" Izumi yelled taking a step towards the door. Just then a knife struck the wall just in front of her, slicing the tip off of a fine, light hair on her nose.

"Izumi," Mai said. "You know I won't tell your father, so speak."

Izumi sighed. Prodigious firebender or not, Izumi would not stand against her mother. Her mother, Fire Lady Mai, who at the age of fifteen, would rather endure the wrath of the notorious, disgraced Fire Nation Princess Azula's lighting than jump into a pipe filled with water and clay in pursuit of the enemy. Her mother was a proud woman, and completely fearless. "Can we go somewhere private where there's no chance we'll be overheard?" Izumi asked.

"Of course," Mai said leading her daughter from the kitchen leaving the dishes from breakfast for the servants to clean up.

They chose one of the many beautiful courtyards in the royal resident quarters of the palace to speak.

"I miss Masaru," Izumi confessed sitting cross-legged beside her mother on the edge of a small pond where a family of turtle ducks swam towards them, expecting bread or some other food offering.

"So you visited my old friend and asked her to teach you to lie?" Mai asked producing a piece of baguette nicked from the breakfast table and tearing off a piece for Izumi.

"Who told you?" Izumi asked looking up at her mother with betrayal and hurt showing on her face.

"Nobody needed to tell me to know. I am your mother. Your actions are too easy to predict for me."

Izumi relaxed her shoulders and slouched again as she tore off a small piece of the bread for the turtleducks in the pond before them. "I figured the skill could also be useful in politics, especially during negotiations. To have full control over one's emotions..."

"You're already perfectly able to control your emotions in any negotiation or debate. You can bring the earth king to his knees by blinking. You can sway the entire council of Republic City with a letter, and you can get even the stubborn and somewhat crazy old chief of the northern Water Tribe to do your bidding effortlessly. You don't need Azula's help to learn to lie, my sweet."

"Fine. I confess it. I want to be able to see Masaru without anyone suspecting anything,"

"I hate to break it to you, Zumzu, but Toph's spawn is far too honorable to engage in adulterous relations with you,"

"I know. But maybe I could... at least visit... and help him in other ways..."

"How?"

"I - I don't know okay?! I just-!" Izumi sighed with frustration. "You and dad and Aunt Azula are all getting older and I want to learn everything I can from you before—,"

"Izumi, we are forty. None of us are going anywhere for a really long time. YOU have time. You don't have to lose sleep for these secret lessons with Azula. I'll talk to the palace guards. Maybe we can arrange for your lessons to be here, during the day, so you don't end up slipping so badly like you did this morning."

"Thank you, Mum," Izumi said hugging Mai.

The next day, Azula was brought to the palace under cloak and heavy guard. She was brought to the Royal Resident quarters of the Palace and placed directly before the Fire Lady, Mai.

"You will be free to roam this section of the castle." Mai said gazing down upon the disgraced princess with no expression on her face. "If you try any thing that could even be interpreted as treason, we will not hesitate to lock you up again in a cooler, for eternity."

The disgraced princess looked around at the familiar courtyard, spotting the fountain where her brother had once pushed his Fire Lady into the water to save her from a burning apple that the princess lit herself with her rudimentary firebending, and then at that old friend who now called the palace hers.

"Thank you, old friend," Azula said with a smooth smile that used to destroy even the most formidable Fire Nation General's confidence.

"It's Fire Lady Mai to you, but given the circumstances, I will let it slide, for Izumi's sake. The girl admires you greatly and I trust her judgment thus far. Don't give me reason for that to change or I will destroy you for corrupting my daughter. Do you understand," Mai said.

"Perfectly, Fire Lady," Azula said curtseying in her prison garb.

"Good." Mai said. She blinked. "Dinner will be served in the Hall of Crimson Flares. Good day, Azula."

Azula watched as Mai, and all of the royal guards left Azula alone there in the courtyard. Nobody was supposed to know she was allowed out of prison let alone in the palace. With no duties or engagements, Azula was free to do as she pleased within her boundaries of the palace. So, she sat down, crossed her feet, and began meditating.

When she opened her eyes again, her niece was sitting before her mirroring her position, perfectly at peace.


	3. Still Learning

"Hisoki, I wanted to apologize for yesterday morning at breakfast. It was incredibly disrespectful of me to ignore you like that without even realizing," Izumi said walking with her betrothed down the hall of the Fire Lords.

"Izumi, don't apologize. Your mind was simply elsewhere at the time. It doesn't matter where. It is only human. You set standards for yourself that are far too high,"

"I have to. It's what's expected of the princess of the Fire Nation,"

"Yes, when in front of the Nation, but not with me. I'm going to be your husband, Princess Izumi. You can trust me with yourself. Your true self."

Izumi sighed. "Thank you, Hisoki."

* * *

The man Izumi's parents had chosen for her was a kind governer from one of the outer islands of the Fire Nation. He was a good diplomat and a favorable man among those who lived so far from the capital. Politically, it was a perfect match.

Personally, it was still so uncertain. Hisoki and Izumi had been doing everything together for the last year since Hisoki came to the capital. They were trying to get to know the other and trying to become comfortable before their wedding, but the return of Masaru only a month ago had shaken Izumi.

The next morning began with a run around the edge of the Volcano that enclosed the Fire Nation capitol.

"An hour, twenty minutes, and sixty two seconds!" Izumi read aloud on her stop watch.

"It's a new record," Hisoki said finally catching up to her, wheezing.

"Are you alright?" Izumi asked bending down to place a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine. I'm just not as... athletic as you, Princess."

"Then we'll have to fix that," Izumi said with a smirk. "I'll race you back to the castle, but this time we will take the roofs, and NOT be seen or heard."

"What?" Hisoki asked in disbelief.

"Bumi was the first to suggest it to Saru and me when we came to visit when we were eleven and he was thirteen."

"Bumi?" Hisoki asked struggling to keep up with Izumi.

"My friend! The Avatar's first-born son!" Izumi replied.

"The Avatar has other children beside that airbender!"

"Of course he does, dum dum. You should meet them someday. They're all so nice, really!" Izumi replied jumping off one roof top doing a double lay up over a road and before continuing her sprint.

"WHAAAAAAAA—- ouf!" Hisoki missed the next roof top and fell on the ground.

"Hisoki!" Izumi slid off the roof top and bent down beside him.

"Ow!" Hisoki winced holding his leg. Izumi touched it sending surges of pain throughout his body. "Ow! Stop!"

"Quit squirming! It's just a dislocated knee. I can put it back into place if you just let me!"

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"My first and only girlfriend was a healer; she taught me many things," Izumi explained.

"You had a girlfriend?" Hisoki gasped rolling into his back.

"For three years. Don't be surprised, everybody has a history. You told me I could trust you with me," Izumi reminded him as she pulled up his pant leg and pulled off his boot as he lay panting.

"I just didn't expect that to—"

"She was a good friend and we were young and curious," Izumi said grabbing his shin and thigh bracing his knee against her shin before popping it back into place as he screamed.

"Hey! What's going on out there?!" Some sleepy resident yelled from his window.

"Quick! Hold this!" Izumi said tossing Hisoki's boots into his arms, picking him up like a damsel and firebending them onto the roof again before setting him down to rest.

"Dumb kids!" The old man muttered.

"Can you walk now?" Izumi asked looking down at Hisoki.

"Should I be able to?" Hisoki asked.

"Yes, but slowly," Izumi replied offering him a hand.

* * *

It took a considerably longer amount of time to get back to the palace than originally planned causing Izumi to miss her sparring session with one general from Republic City.

"He'll have other opportunities to fight me, I'm sure." Izumi said to Hisoki as proper healers inspected his knee.

After the couple went to the training room where Hisoki watched Izumi train her non-bending combat skills with her mother. She lifted a new set of knives and practiced with moving targets that were moved on strings, then she did a solid hour of conditioning and then a swordmaster came to work on her swordsmanship with dual swords, longswords, and tiger swords.

She fought ten of his current pupils at once and bested them all quickly.

"You've improved, but you're technique is still weak!" the swordmaster said whacking Izumi with a wooden training sword, making her fall to her knees.

"Again! All of you up!"

Hisoki admired her work ethic and endurance as well as her beauty. She was strong and possessed great patience and restraint.

After all that training was done, Izumi and Hisoki parted ways for the rest of the day. Izumi went to get her aching body massaged and then went for a royal hair washing before her lessons with her aunt Azula.

The former princess was tossing small bits of bread to the turtle ducks in the pond, but none of them were accepting her offering.

"They don't trust you," Izumi said sitting beside her aunt. It was not a question.

"Stupid little beasts!" Azula mumbled handing the remainder of her bread to Izumi.

The current princess tore off a piece and tossed it in and a family of turtle ducks rushed over immediately.

"Ugh," Azula rolled her eyes and walked away.

"So what will our lesson be today?" Izumi asked finishing off the bread, standing, and brushing crumbs from her skirts, following Azula.

"Today you will learn how to bend lightning," Azula said.

"But Aunt Azula, I can already bend lighting,"

"You can generate lightning, dear niece, but can you redirect it?" Azula asked with one hand on her hip and one hand touching her chin.

"Father and great Uncle Iroh have showed me how," Izumi told her.

"Showed you, but have they ever shot lightning at you?"

"Well— no," Izumi said nervously.

"Has anybody ever shot lightning at you?" Azula asked.

"No," Izumi answered affirmatively.

"Great. Then you're in for a treat," Azula said. She turned and without any more warning bent all of her power into a single lightning blast towards the crown princess. Izumi barely had time to prepare her body to take that much power.

It.

Was.

Still.

Coming...

"Azula! Are you insane?!" Izumi heard her father yell as he and Mai ran into the courtyard upon hearing the noise. Azula broke the beam of energy and turned. Izumi pointed two fingers up at the sky and two towards the ground and expelled the lightning from her body before falling on all fours weakly.

"You taught her how to redirect lightning, no?" Azula asked folding her arms and closing her eyes.

"You could have killed her! She's already tired-"

"From what?"

"Training this morning-" Zuko said.

"A real princess, a real warrior knows that she cannot plan her battles around her training. She cannot choose to be attacked when she is at full strength. She must always be ready for the unexpected, the worst case. She may never tire and always remain on her feet!" Azula said blasting blue fire towards Izumi. The Princess jumped back and stumbled, falling onto the walkway at the edge of the courtyard.

"Azula stop!" Zuko yelled. Mai threw her knives and pinned Azula to the tree.

"No!" Izumi yelled running over, standing between her parents and her aunt. "She's right. The practical training will be good for me. I need to be ready for anything!" Izumi said.

"Very well," Zuko sighed not trusting Azula, but trusting his daughter completely. Izumi yanked the knives out of Azula's sleeves and handed them to their mother then walked to the other side of the courtyard. Azula kept shooting lightning at Izumi.

It was bitter work but they all wanted Izumi to grow up strong and unbeatable as she was the ONLY heir to the Fire Nation throne.

Izumi kept shooting the lightning at the sky.

"Send it BACK, little Zuzu! YOU'RE TOO MERCIFUL AND WEAK! JUST like Kiyi!" Azula taunted. Izumi's other aunt Kiyi, Zuko and Azula's younger half sister was a powerful firebender, but she was naive. She trusted too much, and while stationed in Chameleon Bay with the United Forces, was assassinated in her sleep.

 _How DARE she mention Kiyi?!_ Izumi returned Azula's lightning ten fold and caught nearby rooftops on fire as Azula split its trajectory.

"Well done, dear niece. That will be all for today. Now go make tea for all of us," Azula ordered brushing off her skirts.

"You don't have the authority to command me!" Izumi shot back.

"I don't? As I recall you asked me to teach you everything I know. Now it's time you've practiced obedience. You'll need it for when you marry," Azula reminded Izumi.

Izumi roared fire and stormed off to prepare a pot of jasmine tea for her family.

"That was a little low to bring up Kiyi," Mai said to Azula.

"Yeah. And that's the worst crime I've ever committed. Call the constable to haul me back to prison," Azula said waving her hand dismissively and walking over to the turtle duck pond again to try to prove to the small creatures that she's changed since she last tried feeding them.

"Tea's ready," Izumi said returning with a tray and four cups.

"Temperature is ALMOST perfect, dear niece," Azula said feeling the cup.

"Is it too cold?" Izumi asked.

"Too hot by a tenth of a degree," Azula replied taking a sip and closing her eyes to enjoy the near perfect brew.

Izumi sighed. _Almost isn't good enough!_

Mai watched Izumi sit by her aunt. They were so similar in their perfectionist tendencies, yet so different with their attitudes towards life. While Azula only concerned herself with power, Izumi cared more for happiness and peace for herself, and her nation. She would make a good Fire Lord some day. For now, she still had to train.


	4. First Test

The morning began average as ever with a run around the capital, some training, and then some discussion of current events over breakfast. Afernoons were now completely cleared for Izumi to train with Azula with nobody outside of family knowing. Zuko despised the idea, but Mai insisted they continue to trust their daughter. Be too restricting, and she may run away. As their good friend, Toph had done in her youth.

"So what will we be doing this afternoon?" Izumi asked her aunt.

"This afternoon you will prepare for your first examination under my tutelage," Azula replied.

Izumi turned to her aunt curiously while Mai and Zuko watched from the walkway on the edge of the courtyard. Then Izumi turned to her parents, wordlessly asking if they knew about the 'examinations' Azula had planned for her. Zuko watched on with great concern while Mai's expression was unreadable, as always.

"Your first exam will be in the form of a mission, and your first mission as a professional liar, will be set aboard a pirate ship," Azula informed her pupil with the most stoic expression on her face as she and her niece paced back and forth in the courtyard of the resident courtyard of the royal palace.

"Wot?" Izumi asked with a tone of disbelief.

"Expert hagglers are great at selling absolute shit for millions. You need to do research, come up with a story, work on your acting and then sell this painted piece of copper as a royal artifact that you nicked personally from the disgraced princess Azula's former bedroom," Azula said whipping out a replica of the crown of the princess of the Fire Nation, dangling it between her thumb and her index finger before Izumi's eyes before placing it firmly into Izumi's hand.

* * *

"When did she have that made?" Zuko asked Mai quietly so their daughter would not hear.

"She didn't. I did." Mai replied stone-faced.

"Why?" Zuko asked.

"Because, like you, I want what is best for our daughter. Azula may be crazy, but she's one of the few people who could keep up with Zumzu. We've been talking about her training and came up with this exercise to test not just her 'ability to lie' or whatever we're calling it, but her adaptability. As Fire Lord, you have to always be ready and able to deal with the most unexpected shit to be thrown at your face. She should be able to handle it too,"

* * *

"And what's considered a pass in this test?" Izumi asked curiously.

"Getting at least 10,000 bahn for the thing WITHOUT having to use your cunt—" Azula answered.

"Again, WOT?"

"She means don't sleep with anyone for the money." Mai casually translated knowing everyone and everything her daughter had ever been exposed to and knowing that that did not include swear words.

"Besides, you must remain a virgin until you're married," Zuko reminded Izumi.

"I know, it is just—this is ridiculous. How do I even get aboard a pirate ship?" Izumi asked.

"Most crews get drunk at night. Sneak in then. They will wake up the next day and think everyone next to them is friendly. Just blend in then," Azula replied nonchalantly.

"Alright," Izumi said. She took a deep breath and accepted the test.

* * *

The Crown Princess of the Fire Nation was given an assortment of rags to assemble into whatever she thought a pirate might wear then was taken to the docks and dropped off in the night.

 _This is honestly the dumbest thing you've ever made me do, Aunt Azula._ Izumi thought to herself as she stealthily made her way to the ship where she'd execute her assignment on some unsuspecting shopper. _  
_

Izumi sneaked onto the target ship easily and found the crew asleep as expected. She knew there was a high chance the pirates would suspect her for being an imposter, and didn't need to have empty pockets to confirm such suspicions if she were searched. So, the princess decided to pilfer a small yet valuable-looking item out of every pocket on each person abord the ship to add to her single item to sell. Once satisfied with her new cache, she lied down in a hammock with some random guy, placing her head at the opposite end of his and closed her eyes, listening, waiting for the sun to rise, and the men to sober up.

* * *

"Earth Nation! Fire Nation! Water Nation! So long as bargains are your inclination, you're welcome here! Don't be shy, come on by! Oh! You there, I can see from your clothing that you're world-traveling types. Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?" one of the pirates said to some passerby's on the docks when morning came.

Izumi rolled her eyes at the cheesiness of his sales pitch and stood inside across from jewelry and knives section of the galley as curious shoppers foolishly browsed the contents of the ship.

"Hey Kuon, check this out!" one man said to his friend picking up an item. Izumi pulled out the fake heirloom and threw it at the man's wrist, sticking it to the wooden display case built into the side of the ship.

"Hey! What's the deal, woman?!" the man yelled at Izumi as she bent down to picked up what he dropped when she pinned him.

Izumi smiled and reached across his trapped arms to place the item back on the shelf. Then she took the copper hair piece and yanked it out of the wood, freeing his sleeve.

"Sorry, just enforcing company policy. Customers can't touch ANYTHING, unless buying! We don't treat thieves kindly with these rare and valuable artifacts" she said dangerously.

"What's that blade you carry?" the friend asked looking at the fake heirloom in Izumi's hand.

"Blade?" She looked at it and laughed. "Fool! This is no blade. It's hairpiece. One nicked straight from the royal palace. of the royal family. Knicked it straight from the disgraced princess Azula's room!"

"Psh! I know a load of pigeon scrap when I hear it!" the shopper scoffed.

"No, it's true! It is made of a rare and expensive combination of iron and steel that is plated in a titanium shield before it is coated in gold protecting it from being taken over by a metalbender,"

"Then the thing must be as heavy as it is soft. Lemme see it," the shopper said holding out his hand.

"Nope!" Izumi lifted it out of reach and pressed her free hand out in front of her and engulfed it in a cool red fire at the man. "Customer can't touch it unless they're certain they are buying it," She said with a smirk reveling in her control of her flame. She was the only known firebender in the world with that level of control over the temperature of her fire. After meeting Ran and Sha, Izumi could bend every color of the visible spectrum.

"How much do you want for the hairpiece?" the Customer asked with a nod.

"20,000 golden bahn," Izumi said shooting high.

The customer laughed. "And you won't even let us touch the thing to verify if it's real-"

"It is my most valuable piece for sale, I can't risk it getting stolen. Azula gets no more jewelry made and her beloved niece has different tastes so _**nothing**_ like this will ever be made again," Izumi barked at the customer leaning forward with her narrow eyes boring into his skull.

The shopper growled.

"I'll give you two thousand," the customer offered.

"Twenty thousand," Izumi replied firmly.

"Two point five," the customer offered back.

"Twenty five thousand," Izumi replied staring straight into his eyes wondering if she could bend fire with just her face as the great King Bumi of Omashu could with earth.

"Ten thousand,"

"Thirty thousand."

"I am not sure where you are from, woman, but that is how haggling works in the Fire Nation!" the customer said.

"and I am not just any pirate," Izumi said holding the fake crown.. "Do you want the crown or not?"

"Fifteen thousand,"

"Fifty!"

The shopper roared and lunged at her. She jumped and landed on his head and leapt right off of him and turned to face him again.

"This is your last chance," Izumi said holding the fake crown.

"Fine, twenty thousand bahn,"

"Cough it up and I'll give you the crown," she said holding out her empty hand.

The shopper waved her to follow him off the ship. He pulled a chest out of his carriage that contained the gold.

As soon as she had the chest of gold in her hands, she handed him the crown and blasted lightning at the ground, splintering it to create a cloud of smoke and fled the scene.

The Crown Princess of the Fire Nation ducked into the city sewers traveling by drain all the way back to the palace with the chest of gold in her hands.

* * *

"What is that absolutely putrid smell?" Azula asked with a wave of the hand as she enjoyed afternoon tea with her overly-anxious Fire Lord of a brother, Zuko and a relaxed as always, Fire Lady Mai.

"That, Aunty, is the smell of success," Izumi said with the proudest grin dropping the heavy chest onto the table where her aunt and parents sat, spilling their tea unintentionally. "I sold it for TWENTY thousand bahn. TWICE AS MUCH as as you asked me to!"

Azula cackled madly with glee. "You ripped that guy off good, Zumzu!"

"But you spilled the precious tea, Izumi! How could you do such a terrible thing!" Zuko gasped looking over the steaming puddle on the table with an expression of sheer devastation.

"Father! Relax! It is just a pot of hot leaf juice! We could always make more!" Izumi replied with exasperation.

"JUST HOT LEAF JUICE? HOW COULD A MEMBER OF MY OWN FAMILY SAY SUCH A TERRIBLE THING?" Zuko sobbed uncontrollably.

Izumi frowned at him while Mai put a cold, yet comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Zuko, have you ever noticed just how much you are becoming like Uncle Iroh?," Mai deadpanned looking at Izumi with sympathy.

"He's not becoming our fuddy-duddy uncle. He's simply developing an unnaturally high affinity for fine teas. Besides, Zuzu will forever be a far-to-awkward little turtleduck to be compared to someone so legendary as the infamously honorable and traitorous 'Dragon of the West'," Azula jabbed at Zuko playfully.

Izumi giggled.

Azula watched her dear niece and smiled thinking about just how grateful she was the girl existed. One day, Azula would have to thank dear Zuzu and Mai for making Izumi and for teaching the girl about the world, and letting her travel and experience it before her mind became rigid and her first and sometimes false impressions morphed into dangerous misconceptions as had happened to her. Of course, Azula would sooner throw herself into an active volcano than admit it out loud, but she was of her dear brother, for being everything that Ozai wasn't for his daughter. And she was proud of Izumi, for being the Princess the Fire Nation desperately needed even if it or she didn't know it.

Azula thought back to when she was the crown princess. How different it had been then. Azula never had the freedom Izumi enjoyed. As Princess, she sat by her father's side in war meetings, discussed how to most efficiently burn the world to a crisp and how to best rebuild one Firey Planet from its ashes. She had been forced to fight and win Agni Kais almost daily against the most powerful generals and warlords of the Fire Nation to prove the royal family's prowess and invoke fear in the citizens of their nation. She had been taught by her father that fear was the only way to rule and she believed him. She was taught to hate and now, she was beginning to slowly change as she watched Izumi learning and growing so nicely.

* * *

 **AHHHH And a huge Thank you to my new beta reader, MusicPlayer81, for helping me with this story and 'Earth and Air'!~~~ 3**


	5. Republic City

_Dearest Zumzu,_

 _Where are you? Probending starts in a week and you're still not in the city! Has your royal adulthood caused you to forget all about your friends already? Just kidding! I know you've been awfully busy, with getting married and everything! Congratulations Zumizu, I'm sure Governor Hisoki Ibonara is lovely. If he isn't, well, just send a hawk and Bumi says he'll be there in a jiffy to tear him apart with his bare hands. And don't worry about the mess. If it is an Issue, I can come too and bend his blood back into whatever's left of his body, freeze it, and -ship it back to his parents in pieces-[-strike through] BURY IT IN A PLACE WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE- Lin._

 _We love you Zumju and hope all is well in that volcano of yours._

 _Love,_

 _Kya, Lin, Tenzin_

 _AND BUMI_

* * *

Izumi smiled. "Please Dad, can I go? It's only five weeks and after everything here, I'll NEVER have that anonymity again!" Izumi begged her father.

"Izumi, life is not a game!" Zuko said sternly.

"But Dad!" Izumi begged.

"She has a point," Mai interrupted. Once the new portrait of the Fire Family with Hisoki is shippe out, everyone will know her face. Then she will become busy with child and may never get to play the game she created ever again. I think she should be allowed enjoy these last few weeks freedom and youth while she still has the anonymity," Mai added.

Zuko thought for a good couple of minutes while his wife and daughter waited in silence mirroring each other in their expressions. "Alright," Zuko relented finally.

"Yes! Thank you, Father! Thank you, Mother! I love you both, thank you!" Izumi said crushing them simultaneously in a bone-breaking hug.

"Before you go, though, we have a word of caution for you. It's about your ring; an image of it has already been published in the papers since the official engagement, so it is an identifier," Zuko informed his daughter.

"Oh." she said sadly turning it on her finger.

"You must still have it with you at all times, but hide it when in public and don't lose it,"

"Yes, Father," Izumi said obediently.

"Be safe, and have fun, dear Zumi. I love you," Zuko said embracing his only child.

"I love you too," Izumi replied.

* * *

The Princess changed into her casual clothes and let down her hair and swapped out her crown for a smaller flame hairpiece and ran to her transport.

"Iliana!" She hugged her maid. "Kei-Lo!" She hugged her mother's long-time best friend.

"Ready to go kick ass with your Republic City friends?" Kei-Lo asked with a good-natured laugh.

"You bet!" Izumi said climbing onto the airship.

* * *

"YOU CAME!" Kya, Bumi, Lin, And Tenzin yelled running over to the princess.

"I KNEW that you would!" Lin said folding her arms with a little smirk.

"Let's see it!" Kya yelled grabbing Izumi's left hand.

"WOW!" Suyin yelled launching herself off the ground landing on Izumi's shoulders. "IT IS EVEN SHINIER THAN THE PHOTO IN THE PAPERS!"

"Well no duh!" Lin scoffed. "The papers are printed in black white and grey and this thing is made of pure gold and rubies with amber and maple accenting!"

"Lin! Be nice to your sister!" Izumi scolded the fourteen year old Lin.

"Why? She's not nice to me," Lin huffed folding her arms and scowling.

Suyin stuck her tongue out at Lin who stuck hers out right back.

"It's good to have you back, Sis!" Bumi said pulling Izumi into a rather awkward and giant side hug.

"Touch me again, and I'll give you a scar to match my dear father," Izumi threatened.

Bumi gasped. "It would be such an hONoR to be marked in such a way by the great and noble Fire Princess Izumi!" Bumi exclaimed moving towards the princess with the intention of enveloping her in a massive bear hug..

Izumi raised her palm to Bumi's face and with one firm push, shoved him into the dirt. Suyin, Lin, Kya and Bumi all laughed while Tenzin looked on with concerned.

"Oh come on, Tenz! You know I would never really hurt your brother, even if he is an idiot who deserves it!" Izumi laughed. "My father would kill me!"

Tenzin still scowled.

"So we're pro-bending this season?" Lin asked, excitedly changing the subject to something she found a little more interesting.

"Yes! I am guaranteed five weeks here, so let's make it to the final!"

"Make it? ZUMZU WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SUPER HIGH STANDARDS? WE GOTTA WIN IT!" Lin yelled shaking Izumi.

"Yes, you currently hyperactive badgermole. We will win it!" Izumi said just going with it.

Kei-Lo and Iliana laughed as they watched the princess enjoy her friends.

* * *

Izumi ran off into town with Kya and Lin to train with Toph and some officers in the police for their pro-bending match at the end of the week.

After training and bathing, they headed over to Ding's Dumplings for Lin's favorite after-training snack.

"So you remember Rona, right Zumzu?" Kya asked Izumi.

"Your ex-girlfriend, Rona? The one who walked out on the team just because you two had a falling out?"

"Yeah! Well guess who Lin's mama had to arrest yesterday morning!"

"No!"

"Yes! Apparently she got mixed up with the Terra Triad," Kya shrugged.

"She could have stayed on the team and just not been your girlfriend. I mean, I stayed on the team when WE broke up!" Izumi replied.

"My thoughts exactly!"

"Well maybe some people just aren't good at decision making!" Kya replied.

They laughed.

"So, Lin, how's our favorite little Airhead doing?" Izumi asked.

Lin blushed. "Fine. More than fine, actually! He's getting his mastery tattoos soon."

"Really? Is he terrified?" Izumi asked.

"Yep! I offered to help manufacture more needles with my metalbending so we could stick them ALL in him at and make the 'getting' process faster and make the pain last less time, but he declined my offer," Lin explained.

"I'm not surprised! That would probably hurt a LOT, Linny!" Izumi said laughing nervously.

"I think of it as ripping off a bandage." The young earthbender further explained. "The pain is quick, easy, and over. If you peel at it slowly, you just prolong the suffering. I'd rather get it over with. How about you?"

"Rip it off, Baby!" Izumi said taking a sip of her tea.

"Ahhh... I missed you Zumzu," Kya said wiping her eyes.

"I missed you too!" Izumi said reaching across the table to put a hand on Kya's with a little more tenderness and affection in her eyes than what would probably be socially acceptable.

"There you are!" a voice only familiar only to Izumi exclaimed cheerfully.

The three young women looked up to find a man dressed in rather expensive Fire Nation clothes standing above them wearing an almost royal metal flame piece in the little Fire Nation bun atop his head.

Izumi never wore hair pieces when disguising herself as a commoner in the City..

"Hisoki! What in Ran's name are you doing here, in Republic City?!" Izumi exclaimed, shocked, withdrawing her hand from Kya's quickly, for his sake.

"I wanted to see you! I couldn't bear the thought of going five weeks without you by my side, so I came and got a rom at the Four Elements Hotel for the duration of your stay so we could continue to see each other," Hisoki replied romantically.

Kya snickered at Izumi who looked rather horrified for the briefest instant before schooling her face into something more restrained, while Lin scowled.

"We need to talk!" Lin said grabbing Izumi's wrist rather abruptly, dragging her away from the table knocking their two chairs over.

"You do not grab the pr-" Hisoki began to say before a metal strap was slapped over his mouth.

"Zumzu was OUR FRIEND before you even existed so if I were you, I'd keep my distance," Lin said.

"Come, sit by me Fire Boy while they have a little heart to heart. I could tell you many things about your little lady and how she likes it," Kya said tapping on the table at Lin's empty place.

"Kya! When Lin is through with me, I am going to KILL YOU if you tell him anything of the sort!" Izumi yelled over her shoulder.

"Good Luck, Zumzu! Love you too!" Kya laughed madly.

"Lin- what's the meaning of this-" Izumi asked wrenching her arm out of Lin's grip once they had crossed the restaurant.

"He's your fiancé?" Lin asked shocked.

"Yes, why?"

"I don't like him!" Lin replied firmly.

"What? Why?"

"At first it was just the clothes he was wearing but then when he spoke, he changes. When he said he couldn't bear the thought of five weeks without you there, he was lying! I think he just wants something from you or your family but I couldn't quite pinpoint it."

"You're just being paranoid!" Izumi dismissed turning away to return to the table.

"And if you let him keep hanging around dressed like THAT and calling you Princess, he's going to blow your cover and then we won't be able to compete in pro-bending or ever hang out again," Lin added.

Izumi sighed. Lin was right. "I'll talk to him," Izumi promised.

As soon as Lin and Izumi returned to the table, Izumi announced, "Hisoki, when we finish our meal, Kya will take YOU to go get some new clothes. Then for the duration of our stay in Republic City, you will pretend to be HER fiance."

"What?!" Hisoki gasped.

"That is an imperial order," Izumi declared.

"Why?" Hisoki asked, turning to Kya mortified.

"We live in a city of liars and thieves, several with cameras, pens, parchment, and access to a rather bothersome printing press," Kya replied grinning flirtatiously. "It is the only way to be able to show ourselves on the streets without being stalked relentlessly."

"Forgive me, but why would anyone want to stalk someone so crass and uncultured as you?" Hisoky asked genuinely astonished.

"Hisoki! They're my friends and you have no right to call them that!" Izumi scolded.

"Because I am Kya, second child and only daughter of Avatar Aang of the Southern Air Temple and Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, she is Lin, eldest daughter of Chief Toph Beifong of Republic City's Police, and Heir to the Beifong fortune in Gaoling," Kya answered smoothly, never dropping her smile once.

Hisoki turned to Izumi in shock. Everyone outranks him.

"We have a lot of fun, just the three of us and really would rather NOT have any boys here to mess it all up!" Lin growled.

"Izu-" Hisoki began to protest.

"Just Zumi, here!" Izumi interjected.

Hisoki drew a breath. "-Zumi, please, let me stay, to watch over you. It is not safe-"

"I appreciate your concern, but I can handle myself. Like you constantly feel the need to remind me yes, I am Princess of the Fire Nation with all of the resources in the world at my disposal leaving me vulnerable for kidnapping and ransom, but I'm also a fighter. I have been trained with dual swords, broadswords, tiger hook swords, throwing knives, chi-blocking, fire and lightning bending and I don't need anyone to watch over me," Izumi said with a sigh of frustration.

Hisoki drew another breath and looked down sadly. "I just— okay. I'll be honest. I wanted to make sure you're not seeing anybody else, like… romantically," Hisoki confessed standing up.

"I assure you, I'm not," Izumi replied taking his hand, touching his skin for the first time since relocating his knee after he fell off of that rooftop and dislocated it.

Lin's brows furrowed and she looked down on the ground with a pout.

Hisoki let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Ran and Sha!" Hisoki exclaimed with relief collapsing in Lin's seat again running his fingers through his hair, letting down his tight top knot and pocketing his golden flame-shaped hair piece to better 'fit-in' with his new company in the city..

"Did he lie again?" Kya whispered to Lin as she climbed into the seat next to the waterbender since Izumi sat next to her fiancé.

"No, Zumzu did… but didn't… it was hard to tell. It is like she's… It is like she's been training, against people like me or something," Lin replied in a barely audible whisper only Kya could hear.


	6. Practice

That evening, Kya and Lin found each other finally alone in the attic of the temple on the Island.

"So you're saying Izumi is seeing someone else other than Hisoki?" Kya asked in a whisper to Lin as they lay on their stomachs looking out the window over Yue Bay.

"I told you! I don't know what I sensed. I just know it wasn't the truth but it wasn't a flat out lie either. She's working on it-" Lin replied with a brusque air of annoyance.

"Working on lying? Why would she need to?!" Kya asked.

"Maybe it's part of her Princess training!" Lin suggested hopefully. "Couldn't it be helpful in negotiations or something?"

"Zumzu doesn't need help in negotiations. She can make even the toughest war lord or prison warden shit his pants by blinking. She's hiding something. I know my ex-girlfriend wouldn't undertake such an impossible thing if she didn't have some plan she was hiding!"

"But I don't understand! She would tell us anything, wouldn't she? She's our best friend!"

"You're right. I am hiding something and I should have told you both." Izumi said appearing in the doorway, making Kya and Lin nearly jump out of their skins. "I just didn't think I needed to because, well, I didn't know Hisoki was coming to the city and that it would be an issue." Izumi walked over to join them on the floor of the attic, laying down between Kya and Lin. "I'm not sure I want to get married. Not to him at least. But the Fire Sages say I must to make heirs for the crown and if they had their way, I would have been married when I was sixteen."

"The Fire Sages can suck my dick, Izumi—" Kya began to say.

"Kya you don't have a—"

"I know, but you know what I mean. You're the princess! Shouldn't you be able to do what you want?" Kya asked.

"Yes, for a time, at least. But I also have a responsibility to my nation and my people. Things are changing and becoming more accepting, but at the present moment the people are still very traditional and want me to marry full Fire Nation."

"And your true love?"

"Is half Earth Kingdom," Izumi confessed.

"But ARE you seeing him romantically now?" Lin asked.

"No, but I want to which is why I asked my Aunt Azula to teach me to lie,"

"AZULA?" Both Kya and Lin gasped.

"She's a lot nicer now. Chilled out... My mother tells me it's because there was a time she wanted children but couldn't ever meet anyone since she was in prison. Well, now she has partial influence on me during training, but that's not the same. It's enough, I guess, to satisfy her maternal needs," Izumi rambled.

"Wait! So you are or are not involved with the half-Earth Kingdom boy?" Lin asked.

"I am not, but I want to be-," Izumi confirmed.

"So will you be?" Kya asked.

"No. Both Mother and Aunt Azula say he's even more honorable than my dear father. He won't let me soil my own reputation by allowing me to engage in any sort of relations with him once I'm married. Still, I remain hopeful," Izumi explained.

"Love is such a complicated and dumb thing-," Lin muttered resting her chin on her fist and her elbow on the floor of the attic.

"Love is fairly straightforward. It's the men that are the issue. You know, Zumzu, if things don't work out between you and Hisoki, you could always come back to me," Kya suggested.

"Kya you KNOW that could never work out," Izumi groaned rolling onto her back.

"A girl can dream, can't she?"

"Ugh!"

* * *

The next day, Hisoki came to them to the training arena. He wore his hair down and a sleeveless crimson tunic with deep burgundy pants and dark leather boots that came up to his knees.

"Zumi, I thought your Fire was blue!" Hisoki said shocked by what he saw, like always.

"I just lower the temperature of my flames. I must to hide my identity," Izumi explained throwing a few more punches.

"Wow! That's... incredible!" Hisoki exclaimed.

"Thanks," Izumi replied, blushing.

"Triangle formation?" Lin asked turning away from her rather beat down dummy.

"Sure."

The three girls fought against each other. It was beautiful to watch them fly through the air and slide across the training arena floor as they tried to knock each other down. They were too good for each other.

Just when Hisoki thought things couldn't get more intense, they were joined by a waterbender.

"Hey sweeties,," a kind, soft, almost melodic voice said entering the gym space.

"Mom!" Kya ran over and hugged her mother.

"Hi Aunt Katara!" Lin waved politely.

"You'll be helping us train today?" Izumi asked wiping her neck with a towel.

"Yep. And sorry Lin. Your mom will be a little late. And Zumi, I got a call from your mother. She and… your Aunt is coming to help us train, if I heard her correctly on the phone."

"Whatt?!" Izumi asked. _But she's not allowed out of the the resident sector of the castle._

"Your aunt?" Hisoki asked. "Azula?"

"It's— complicated," Izumi said turning away nervously.

Katara sat down and pulled out some bindings and began wrapping her wrists and ankles and then took off some of her traveling layers of clothing to give herself more range of motion for the fight to come.

"Hey kiddos! Wait—-" Toph said entering and pausing. "Who's the fireboy?" She asked pointing without looking in Hisoki's direction.

"He's my fiancé," Izumi replied.

"And he followed you to training? Sounds like a controlling creep to me," Toph muttered.

"Toph! Hisoki is a wonderful and polite young man, and a good match for Izumi," Katara berated her friend.

Toph frowned and shed her Chief's uniform in one swift motion, sitting down beside Katara folding her arms with a scowl.

"I'm sure he's fine," Katara whispered to Toph placing a hand on her knee.

"Don't talk about him here," Toph growled turning away.

 _Masaru,_ Izumi remembered sadly. _Masaru's mother knows. Of course she does._ Ever since Saru ran away from home when he was five, Izumi's mother, Mai told Toph everything: when Saru learned to bend fire, when he mastered it. When he learned lightning generation, when he fell in love with Izumi, when she fell in love with him, when he joined the army, and no doubt what happened when he returned.

"It's... a... pleasure, seeing you again, Azula—" Katara said shaking the disgraced princess's hand.

"I appreciate the false courtesy but there really is no need. I know how you really feel about me. You think I'm a monster. But I don't care about what you think. All I care about now is my niece and ensuring that she slaughters ALL of her enemies," Azula said turning her gaze away from the waterbending master to Izumi who slapped her own face with her hand in embarrassment.

" I'm just going to go... get a drink..." Izumi laughed nervously leaving the room.

"What's up with her?" Mai asked, for once not quite sure.

"I'll go with her-" Hisoki said sprinting after her.

"No you won't," Toph said, unmoving as the earth encased Hisoki's legs. "The first thing you should know about your fiancée is that when she flees a situation so awkwardly, which is already an extremely rare occurrence, she is not to be disturbed, do you understand?" Toph asked still not moving, her head hung low as she saw where everyone was with her feet.

"Toph—" Mai walked over, her voice heavy with concern.

"I'm fine!" Toph yelled standing up, pushing past Mai. "Lin, Kya. We will start three on two until Zumzu returns, okay," Toph said

"But Aunt Toph— Azula is scary! Why couldn't uncle Zuko come?" Kya asked getting into her fighting stance a bit nervously. Katara glanced sideways at Azula.

"Forgive my dear brother, he's rather preoccupied with the wedding preparations and debut logistics for his daughter," Azula said jumping up to send a wheel of blue fire towards Kya.

"Wait! Shouldn't we get Hisoki off the ring first?" Lin asked.

"Fine," Toph growled. Sliding her feet, moving the Fire boy by his bindings to the bleachers.

"I'm Ba- oh dear," Izumi said jumping into action struggling to keep her fire red against her aunt.

"Remember your breathing. Control yourself Izumi. Don't EVER let yourself go. CONTROL!" Azula yelled at her niece.

Izumi flew threw the air and traded places with Kya catching Izumi off guard. Kya knocked Azula over sideways with one shot and then back with a third as Izumi blasted Katara back a zone then switched places with Lin to take on Toph.

"Aunt Toph, I'm sorry!" Izumi said.

Just then Lin and Kya were thrown into the back wall and all three grown masters converged on Izumi.

"Don't ever apologize!" Azula growled.

"Especially when it's not your fault!" Toph added looking equally angry. The three women blasted Izumi with their respective elements. She blocked it with a massive amount of red fire and rolled to the side throwing Azula up and back into the wall and then Toph to Zone three and lastly Katara to zone three. She advanced forward alone into the adult territory.

"Oh dear Zumi, always saving us from near knockouts," Lin said to Kya as the two walked over to sit with Hisoki.

Hisoki was chewing his fingers, fearing for his lady.

Izumi jumped and twisted through the air conducting lightning, her feat weaving through water and earth before knocking Toph down (but not out) of the ring and then knocking Katara into the drain. Toph and Izumi were locked in combat for quite a while before it looked like Toph might get the upper hand.

"Is she— crying?" Lin asked Kya as they watched Izumi wipe her eyes between striking Toph and blocking.

"I— It's hard to tell. Maybe it's just sweat getting in her eyes," Kya said.

Toph almost smashed an earthen disk into Izumi's face from mere inches away but Izumi smashes it to dust with a fired fist. Toph grabbed her fist, then her other wrist then put Izumi's arms down and wrapped her arms around the young woman, enveloping her in a hug. Izumi wrapped her arms around the sweaty police chief and buried her face in Toph's breasts.

"I'm sorry! I didn't have a choice."

"I know. I'm not mad at you, know this Zumzu. You're good. You really are! Take a deep breath, sweet girl. You have a good heart. I know it!" Toph said stroking her hair.

"Am I missing something?" Hisoki asked glancing at Toph.

"Hey! No physical contact in pro bending! You all are benders! You need to keep distance," Mai reminded them.

Izumi stepped back and instantly recovered. Toph too retreated from the hug and acted as if nothing happened.

"Mom never hugs me!" Lin muttered crossing her legs and arms angry with jealousy.

"I'll hug you," Kya said yanking Lin by the arm into a clumsy embrace, as the little earthbender tried to squirm away.

"But you hug everybody. It's not that special, then." Lin said walking back into the ring to start again.

"But that doesn't mean I love YOU any less!" Kya yelled with a sigh of exasperation.

* * *

"We need to talk," Mai said to Izumi after the training, while the princess was getting her water. She paused receiving the order then continued. Hisoki watched on confused.

"I'm fine! Will you guys just STOP?" Toph yelled shaking Katara's hand off her shoulder.

"Linny, would you mind having dinner on the island, I'm going to be working late tonight," training cut into the time I had to work on a case today," Toph told her daughter.

"No, I don't mind. You go— figure shit out," Lin said across the room to her mom. "Without me," she muttered sadly as her mom left without even saying goodbye. She watched Kya and Katara hugging, Mai not hugging Izumi but always talking to her, helping her with all of her problems, looking out for her. Even Azula seemed more caring for someone that how Toph treated Lin.

"Thanks for feeding me all of the time, Aunt Katara," Lin sighed.

"You don't have to thank me, dear, that's what family does. We help each other out!" Katara said, embracing the fourteen-year-old earthbender.

* * *

"What was that?" Mai asked Izumi in the hallway.

"What was what?"

"Don't play dumb. That hug. Why were you crying?"

"I felt bad for Aunt Toph. It probably hurt her to know that Saru could never— be with me. And it hurts me too—"

"You need to push him from your mind as a candidate, Izumi. He can remain a friend, without question but you are ENGAGED to Hisoki. You can't keep slipping up like this, you can't keep feeling—"

"At least I have the capacity to feel! You're just a big blah most of the time and I refuse to be the same! I'm sorry? Okay? I've just had a lot on my mind!" Izumi yelled walking away.

Mai sighed.

* * *

"Ugh Guys! Can anyone release my feet?" Hisoki called as the group began to leave the training arena.

"I would but I really don't want to," Lin replied snickering.

"Linny," Katara said in a condescending tone.

"Alright!" Lin sighed releasing Hisoki with a stomp of her foot.

"Well that was the most fun I've had in a while. It brought back rather fond memories of me trying to capture you all," Azula said with a smirk.

"Yeah, fond memories," Katara replied sarcastically. Everyone laughed except Mai, Izumi, and Hisoki who was rather clueless about it all.

Everyone stayed on Air Temple Island, even Hisoki much to Izumi, Kya and Lin's dismay.

"I dont want to know what Bumi is going to do to him," Izumi said to her two best friends, joining them in the Temple attic after her evening shower.

"I vote for killing him," Lin said.

Izumi frowned. "Just because he told one little fib is not grounds to automatically want to kill him. I lied too, remember?"

"But we know you. We don't know this guy. He should be trying to make a good impression but isn't." Lin replied.

"Hmmmm."

"Why did my mom hug you today?" Lin asked.

Izumi sighed with frustration. Lin doesn't know about Masaru and I can't tell her. "It's complicated," Izumi replied.

"You know withholding information is just about as good as lying—" Lin reminded the Princess.

"Well deal with it, because I CAN'T tell you, okay?" Izumi snapped, tears stinging her eyes. I can't tell you that I broke her son's heart, your brother's heart and it broke her to see me!

"Leave her alone for a while, she loves you guys and wants to tell you but can't," Mai said joining them in the attic.

"Hey, uh... Fire Lady Mai-" Lin said nervously, sitting up straight. Mai and Zuko were always so busy that Lin never had much of a chance to get to know them.

"Just Auntie Mai is Fine," Mai replied sitting with them in her long black and burgundy robes, her knifes and darts visible just under her sleeve.

Izumi turned away.

"How long were you sitting there, Auntie Mai," Kya asked.

"Long enough."

"Why did you let Azula out of prison?" Lin asked.

"Because she's training Izumi in a skill I think would come in handy IF she stopped letting her emotions interfere with everything," Mai said casting a glance her daughter's way.

"Lying," Lin said remembering the extremely odd irregularity in Izumi's heart beat when she said she wasn't seeing someone else romantically.

"But why?" Kya asked.

"For Love. One does incredible things for those they love, to protect them. Sometimes those actions are traitorous. I once betrayed Azula, the crown princess, so that your uncle Sokka, and my husband, Zuko, could escape her clutches with some prisoners at the Boiling Rock. I betrayed my nation, but I loved Zuko more than I feared the consequences. I know it sounds silly, because you're so young, but you'll understand someday, when you love someone, it's hard to know which way is right, and how to behave,"

"So you don't love Hisoki,"

"I'm trying to give him a chance, but no, I don't love him, yet," Izumi said. "That's why I wouldn't settle for staying home the last five weeks before my wedding. I don't care about the preparations and let everyone work on it without me. I needed to see some friends before my debut to the world, before I lose the ability to walk in the streets in peasant clothes without a guard, before I have his baby, Izumi sighed rolling onto her back.

Mai placed a loving hand on Izumi's arm.

"Our offer still stands, Izumi," Kya said solemnly.

"I'm not going to let Bumi tear him apart, you bloodbend the extracts back into the body and Lin bury the remains," Izumi said firmly.

Mai laughed.

"See? They love you too and would do the most ridiculous things for you," Mai said softly.

"I love you guys too," Izumi said rolling onto her side, hugging them.


	7. Dressing and Wedding

Izumi was kneeling on the floor of her expansive bedroom. Her suitcase was open on a plastic mat on her bed, and her latest trove of treasures from Republic City were strewn about the covers. She pulled out from beneath the mattress a large trunk and opened it. Inside were all of the pro-bending uniforms from previous years, the trophies she had won with the team, some clothes she liked that she had outgrown, some old, dull knives without much sharpening room left in them, and some love letters from Kya sent from one of the poles.

She was only allowed to keep one trunk of keepsakes her entire life, so at the end of every year, when she returned to Republic City, she had to go through all of her memories and sort out what she still found important.

"Not everybody is fortunate enough to have the capacity to hoard every object from their life story. As a Princess training to one day rule this great nation, you too must learn this struggle and practice reevaluating your own priorities," her mother had explained when they first gave her this one trunk when she was practically still a babe.

"Goodbye dull knives," she said taking the set from the trunk. "Goodbye, girl clothes, goodbye peasant clothes, I guess," Izumi said adding to her pile of discards. _I could always raid the servant's quarters whenever I want to leave the palace_ , she thought mischievously. Then she remembered. Clothes won't be enough very soon. The world will know her face. She frowned, looked down into her trunk, and sifted through it anew. _There was room for additions_ , she thought, satisfied with her annual cleaning job of her memories.

"Goodbye red belt," she said folding her red belt and placing it in the trunk to lock away for another year at least. "Goodbye pro-bending," She said folding her uniform tidily. "Goodbye Flaming Moonbadgers," she said adding a newspaper clipping of herself, Lin, and Kya standing in front of the stadium, brandishing their fifth trophy. She pulled something blue out of her suitcase, it too destined to for the trunk of memories. "Goodbye water-tribe disguises," she said placing it on top of her pro-bending uniform. "Goodbye earth kingdom disguises," She said adding green fabric to the blue. She reached for the last thing from her Republic City luggage. The trophy.

 _Why do you want me to keep it? Izumi asked her teammates._

 _We thought you could put it on some shelf somewhere in that palace of yours. Surely there's a hall of fame! Kya said._

 _There's a hall of Fire Lords but that is not exactly the place for an award for playing a game," Izumi replied with exasperation._

"Goodbye, my creation," she sighed, cushioning the golden trophy with the Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom disguisesg. She closed the chest, locked it with her lightning and pushed it back under her bed. She would be moving to a new room tonight… with her new husband.

Izumi looked around. Some day she will have a little prince or princess in this very room planning little schemes and locking away little secrets that he or she would laugh at when he or she turned twenty.

"Princess Izumi," a familiar voice said.

"Iliana," Izumi said standing, greeting her long-time maid. "Why don't you call me Zumi anymore?" Izumi asked.

"Today, protocols are changing. If the guests that come see us so- at ease with each other- the sages fear your family will lose the respect of the nobles-"

"For acknowledging that we are equals?" Izumi asked Iliana.

"Yes, Princess," Iliana replied, bowing low.

Izumi sighed. How she hated the old nobles with their rigid ways. Times were changing, or so she hoped.

"Come, it is time for your royal hair brushing," Iliana said beckoning for Izumi to follow.

* * *

Royal hair brushing. Izumi had only done it once before when she was sixteen, before her first 'official' date with Masaru. It turned out he didn't care for the new look. Said it made her look like one of the stiff and silent old ladies they made fun of during her father's general hearings that they secretly watched from the vents above the throne room.

" _You're no lady, you're a PRINCESS, Izumi!" Masaru said playfully nudging her in the arm. At least it wasn't a solid punch like Lin enjoyed giving. "... and someday, you'll be a LORD," Masaru added as an afterthought._

 _Sixteen-year-old Izumi laughed and pulled out the flame decoration and the hair ribbon and let her dark locks flow freely as they climbed out of the vents and ran through the castle halls, laughing, avoiding his and her personal guards so that they could talk in private._

" _Have you ever been curious…" Izumi had asked eyeing the mound in Masaru's pants._

" _Princess Izumi! How dare you have such uncouth thoughts!" Masaru scolded._

" _You're the one who said I am not a lady, I'm a PRINCESS… and will bea LORD! So why can't I think about whatever I want to think" Izumi snickered with a mischievous grin._

 _Masaru beamed. "You're too smart for your own good, and believe me, I am just as curious about what you also have underneath those robes, but I cannot indulge in such desires, for if anyone knew, your family would be ruined by me."_

 _Izumi sighed and backed down. "I know."_

 _He had no qualms about hugging her though._

" _But a girl can dream, can't she?" Izumi whispered with the side of her head pressed against Masaru's clothed chest, echoing the words Kya always said._

" _Yes, she can," he said, with one hand on the back of her head tucked it into the crook of his neck affectionately and the other wrapped around her slender body. She knew then that she couldn't marry him. The Fire Sages had told her on her sixteenth birthday. She was supposed to be distancing herself from him, but couldn't bring herself to even begin._

" _He will be off with the Army in a year! Let me enjoy these last moments, at least!" she had begged them, and after getting her father involved in the matter, they relented._

"You're smiling, Princess," Iliana commented while lower-ranking servants brushed Izumi's hair in the flowing stream of water.

"Is that a crime, this morning?" Izumi asked with her eyes closed, relaxing as she revisited these memories.

"No, Princess. I only meant to bring your awareness to your current state of being,"

"And why is such a thing necessary?"

"It is your future mother-in-law. She holds a rather perplexing belief that you are not supposed to be happy once in your official capacity,"

"I'm surprised. Wouldn't me happy be a good thing? All things considered, me angry could result in her banishment or execution on a bad day. Does she have any reason for this belief?"

"I'm not sure, Princess, but I would exercise caution in her presence,"

Izumi laughed, another memory coming into play. Caution! Ha!

" _The Grand Secretariat of the Earth Kingdom is a dangerous man, Izumi. People have been going missing and he has the authority to cover up everything!" Masaru warned her when she decided to try on her own to solve a mystery that her father had been trying to crack for months._

" _Don't worry about me," Izumi said with a glint of determination splashing over her golden-tangerine eyes._

" _Please! If I were you, I would exercise caution in his presence! He does not take kindly to guests arriving unannounced, and-"_

" _Really, Saru! Just trust me! I'll be fine! I mean, I've survived this long executing my various schemes, haven't I?" Izumi asked smirking at him. He sighed and followed dutifully, ready to jump into action if need be as she dropped into the grand secretariat's private office in the Earth Kingdom Embassy in the Fire Nation._

* * *

"Come now, It is time for your hair and gown," Iliana said leading Izumi to another room after she dried her own hair with her own firebending.

"I'm afraid your mother has issued an order that you are not allowed to do any bending on your wedding day, and she found the darts you tried to conceal in the sleeves of your gown and had them removed upon its most recent inspection for poisons.

"Dammit, Ma!" Izumi cursed to herself. _No bending, no knives?_

"I'm sorry, Princess, but it is tradition that the bride appear before her husband as a lady,"

"But I am not a Lady, I am a Princess… and one day I will be a Lord," Izumi said echoing Masaru's words as her maid, Iliana removed her silk bath robes.

"Please place your hands on the mast of the canopy," Iliana asked Izumi.

"No chest bindings today?" Izumi asked looking down at her exposed breasts.

"It has been decided you will showcase a new fashion at your wedding. A new type of binding, persay," Iliana said procuring some strange, stringy device from a box.

"Great," Izumi thought to herself miserably, blowing a hair out of her face.

Two maids situated themselves on either side of her to quickly do up the main part of her hair into some heavy and massive contraption made of pure gold set with rubies, diamonds, amber stones, and other crimson gems while Iliana began her new bindings.

It was a ridiculously heavy structure that ran the entire length of her torso from just below her armpit to well over her hips.

"I can't fight in this," she said as soon as Iliana started tightening the contraption from the bottom up.

"I'm sorry, Princess. This is why you will be guarded during the event."

"I don't want anybody's protection," Izumi replied angrily.

"I'm sorry, Princess," Iliana said sympathizing with the young lady as she pulled the strings to the device at the waist.

"Princess, Izumi!" an unfamiliar voice said as it entered the dressing room.

Izumi turned, her eyes narrow with fury. "This is a closed ward!" she yelled at the intruder.

Iliana tugged the princess back towards her by her bindings.

"That is your mother-in-law!" Iliana whispered hurriedly.

"The one that doesn't want me to be happy? Great! Was she the one who suggested this new clothing piece?" Izumi asked with her hands on her cinched waist.

"No, I am sorry to say that part was YOUR dear mother, Fire Lady Mai, Princess Izumi," Iliana whispered back.

"I am Hana, Hisoki's mother, and I have come to inform you of my expectations for my soon-to-be daughter-in-law," Hana said walking over with her chin held high and her gaze low to take a look at the young princess.

Izumi glanced at Iliana who gave Izumi a shrug of apology.

"First of all, I hope your servant is not done with your stays, with a waist so wide, you'll look like a soldier at your wedding. Servant, will you-" Hana began to say.

"My 'servant' HAS A NAME!" Izumi yelled already losing patience with this woman. "It's Iliana."

"Servant, be sure those corsets are laced properly. And by properly, I mean the Princess _shouldn't be able to speak_ when she is married," Hana growled.

"You will do no such thing, Iliana," Mai said entering just in time. Izumi let out a sigh of relief, regretting it instantly as Iliana took the opportunity to tighten the new garment around Izumi's ribcage. "Iliana, I'll take over from here, will you go fetch us some tea? Thank you."

Seething, Hana turned to Izumi's mother. "Fire Lady Mai, I don't know how you stand these servants! They've no respect for their superiors!" Hana exclaimed.

"They've no respect for you only because they know you are not their superior," Mai replied bluntly. Hana gasped, as if she had been struck in the face. Mai ignored her reaction, remaining stoic as always. "These servants serve Princess Izumi, not even me," Mai informed Hana, placing a hand on Iliana's shoulder before she went, with a bow, to prepare the tea.

"You _say_ they only serve Princess Izumi and yet you command them as if they were yours!" Hana argued.

Once again, Mai did not even glance at Hana after another outburst. "There is a clear difference between a command and a request, Hana. Surely your parents have taught you that," she commented, her attention remaining on lacing up Izumi's corset evenly.

"My-" Hana choked and paled and fell silent, turning away angrily.

It took all of Izumi's self control to refrain from laughing at the belligerent woman. Didn't she know she didn't stand a chance against the legendary Fire Lady? Izumi loved her mother dearly for many reasons, one of her favorite being that the Fire Lady never did tolerate anyone's bullshit and was finally in a place of authority where she could stand up for her beliefs without consequence.

"How are you feeling, Princess Izumi?" Mai asked pausing to let her daughter adjust to the reduced lung capacity.

"Fine, mother," Izumi replied softly, shocked by the weakness of her own voice.

"Good," Mai said pulling it even tighter.

Izumi grimaced. _Regretting…. Everything…!_ Izumi thought as she tried to use her now disabled abdominals to fight the pull of the garment. _I am completely… not… fine… in… this… thing!_

"I can feel you flexing, Zumi. You know, all I have to do is wait for you to exhale. You're wasting precious energy, sweetie," Mai whispered so only Izumi could hear.

Izumi stopped fighting it and gasped for air and as soon as she exhaled, Mai pulled again.

"If you wouldn't mind, I would like to go over the conditions for the marriage between the Princess Izumi and my first born son," Hana said finally.

"The conditions were determined two years ago and were never open for discussion in the first place. You should have understood that when you offered your son to us, what changed? Nevermind, don't answer that, because I'm really not that interested…" Mai said, making some final adjustments.

"If the princess refuses any sexual advances Hisoki makes-" Hana began to say.

"She won't," Mai said pulling the laces particularly hard. Izumi tried to turn her head to say something, but Mai clamped her hand to the back of Izumi's head and turned her facing forward again before she could speak, silently telling her to let Mai handle the exchange. "My daughter is required by the Fire Sages to give birth some time within the next two years. In that she will be compliant, but has NO other obligation to Hisoki," Mai exclaimed.

Izumi bit her tongue to keep from speaking.

"Now, Hana, I recommend you leave before I become more annoyed with your presence," Mai said dangerously.

Hana bowed and left the room quickly.

"Mother," Izumi said quietly.

"Yes, my love?" Mai asked.

"I cannot breathe," Izumi replied.

"I am sorry, my sweet," Mai said tying the knot off where it was, kissing her daughter on the head and leading her to a makeup table. "Come, let us fix your eye make-up. I know it hurts, but it is only for a day. I had to go through the same ritual when I married your father,"

"And what ritual is this?"

"Making the bride so miserable that she can't wait to undress at the end of the long day and be with her new husband," Mai replied.

"Sounds like conspiracy to me," Izumi replied skeptically. "Was all this pain worth it?"

"Absolutely, but only because _you_ came out of it," Mai said, gently touching Izumi's face. "I know you're scared, but your children will make everything easier between you and Hisoki. Trust me. You will both want what them to grow up strong and smart and happy. That goal you share will unite you, and allow you to get along more easily,"

"But what if we have differing ideas on how much of everything is 'enough'? What if he wants us to push harder than I am willing to allow? What if he hurts my children?"

"Then we will intervene, Izumi. You are the princess of the Fire Nation. Hisoki, on the other hand, could be stripped of all authority, and robbed of his lands and titles at the wave of your father's hand if he actually tries to intentionally hurt you our your babies, but based on our assessment and observations, he shouldn't be one to pull such a stunt. Don't worry so much, Izumi." Mai said, kissing Izumi's head and then doing the eyeliner for the young bride.

After a moment of silence, Izumi spoke again. "Is 'Saru coming to the wedding?"

Mai sighed as she moved onto painting a line on the other eye.

"No, I am afraid not. The young man was worried he might catch a glimpse of his estranged mother, if he did," Mai replied.

"Is Aunt Toph even coming?" Izumi asked.

"No, probably for the same reason as Saru," Mai replied.

Izumi frowned. "I should have known. Everyone in the four kingdom knows Toph would never abandon her city, even for her children. If Masaru reads the paper, he would probably know too. He's avoiding me."

And for once, Mai had no response to her daughter. Yes, the son of Toph and Satoru said the exact thing to her. He couldn't bear to see the love of his life walk down the aisle into the arms of another man. It tore Mai apart to see her daughter so heartbroken, but life was hard. Nothing worthwhile ever came easy. It was just a shame Izumi would have to learn that so early.

* * *

Once the wedding was in full swing, Izumi and Hisoki were laughing, smiling and holding hands as they greeted guests, Mai felt safe to leave.

"But-" Zuko began to protest, holding onto their hand when she stood and began to walk away.

"I need to check on Saru. He was like a son to us for thirteen years. We raised the boy. We cannot neglect him now. He needs us, and I need to know that he is okay. I'll be back before the bedding ceremony, don't worry," Mai assured her husband.

"Alright, be safe, and remember, I don't hate you," Zuko said.

"I don't hate you too," Mai replied kissing him on the lips quickly before going away with four imperial guards of her own.

At the sight of the Imperial guards, Masaru's gatekeepers opened the doors, allowing the royal company to pass without any opposition. Mai found the boy she raised moping in his parlor dressed in his finest robes with the wedding invitation still in his hand, shadows around his eyes, and tracks of dried tears staining his cheeks. .

"Saru, your absence from the royal wedding has been noticed," Mai said sternly, looking down at the young man.

"The invitation did not state that attendance was mandatory nor was it issued as a direct order from Fire Lord Zuko, milady," Masaru replied not looking up from the beautiful lettering on the invitation wishing more than anything that his name were on it in place of Hisoki's.

"Saru," Mai said sitting down beside him. "You know you've always been like a son to Zuko and me," Mai said about to put an arm around him when he slid away.

"Yes, but Izumi has NEVER been like a sister to me," Masaru exclaimed standing up with tears streaming freely from his glistening amber eyes. "I know you saw it since we were in nursery! And you let it happen!" He cried, wiping his face like a child. "How could you be so cruel to let it grow? Let us get so close? Let us believe that we could actually become something when you knew the entire time we could never be together because of this twisted, backwards, traditional establishment?" Masaru demanded.

"I wanted you both to be happy," Mai replied, reaching out to touch his face.

"Happy? You LET her kiss me goodbye when I joined the army. You LET her promise she would wait for me and then you tore us apart while I was on leave, had her start courting some pure-blooded governor from some tiny island in the northern Fire Isles. Why?"

"I wanted you to both enjoy the time you did have together so that you would have something pleasant to remember when you became grown and overwhelmed with responsibility. I didn't want your childhood to be deprived of a friend."

"But what of my adulthood? It lasts an average of four times the length of childhood, and will be spent entirely without a friend. What YOU did just made the pain greater when we were torn apart. Was that your intention?"

Mai closed her eyes. "You know it wasn't Saru. Please, just come to the wedding. She wants you."

Masaru took a breath and ceased crying. "And I want her, but I love her and am willing to sacrifice the joy of her company for the sake of her reputation, her family, and the good of OUR nation. My presence would only hurt her standing in the eyes of man."

"And how would your presence affect her reputation?" Mai asked.

"They will accuse her of having an affair, I am sure of it," Masaru said.

 _An affair that she wants, if I might add_ , Mai thought silently.

"Anyone who has worked in that palace longer than three years knows _exactly_ what we were. We made sure of it when we were together," Masaru paused. "When we thought nothing could possibly come between us," he added bitterly.

Mai was intrigued, curious to what exactly her daughter spent all of those afternoons doing running around with the son of Toph and Satoru. She heard tales from the chefs of missing pastries and meats, of paintings on the walls, added moustaches, horns and wings drawn in ash on the tapestries in the hall of the Fire Lords. She heard of chandeliers going missing, long-lasting green fires in the bathrooms on the third floor corridor of the parliament building. She head of vent grates being damaged and going missing. But she also knew that Masaru never touched Izumi inappropriately. She knew her daughter wanted it. There were nights the curious teenage princess would ramble on and on about her fantasies after her father had gone to bed.

" _But Masaru cares too much about me and my reputation. Sometimes, I wish he would just loosen up a little. Be less stubborn, less like the earth from his mother and have more firey passion for me. What do you think, mother?" Izumi asked her mother with a dreamy glaze over her golden tangerine colored eyes._

" _I think you need to accept that Masaru is a good man, and quit pushing. It is not appropriate for a lady to do such a thing,"_

" _But I am not a lady. I am a Princess… and one day, I will be a Lord, but NEVER a lady," Izumi said, smiling as she looked up at the ceiling._

 _Mai sighed and touched her daughter's soft cheek, thinking back to when things were so easy. Before the girl developed such a love that ran so deep._

"Please tell Princess Izumi that I NEVER want to see her again, for her own sake. She needs Hisoki to like her if she wants her family to continue to reign," Masaru said.

"Masaru!" Mai jumped to her feet, shocked, not expecting something so definite to come out of the boy's mouth that day.

"Please return to the ceremony, Fire Lady Mai. In the meantime, I have a company to run," Masaru said leaving the room, crumpling and tossing the glossy, gold-trimmed wedding invitation in the waste bin by the door as he left the room.

Mai sighed heavily and gazed up at her guards, completely at a loss of words before regaining her composure.

"Will children always remain this stubborn and difficult?" Mai asked one of the older guards that she knew had a family.

"I am afraid so, my lady," the guard replied solemnly escorting the Fire Lady Back to her carriage.


	8. Gifts and Memories

Back at the wedding, it was time for the gift giving ceremony. A certain tier of wedding guests had the honor of personally presenting the princess and her husband with their gifts. Among them, no wonder, was the Avatar himself.

"Congratulations Governor Hisoki, Princess Izumi. Please accept these gifts for you from my family as well as our good wishes for your marriage and good luck starting a family," Avatar Aang said handing the two a set of ancient firebending scrolls collected from the ancient Sun Warrior's civilization.

Katara gave them an assortment of healing salves and herbal tea. "May they come in handy as you raise and train the next generation of your family," Katara said with a low and polite bow.

"And please accept these from my brother Bumi and forgive him for his absence. He was recently deployed by the United Forces and is unable to make it today-" Kya said, presenting Hisoki with a sword and Izumi with a new set of throwing knives.

"And these are from me," Kya added quickly handing them each a note before quickly glancing around as for an escape route raising Izumi's suspicions instantly as she turned the card over. To Izumi, she wrote "have fun". To Hisoki- "she likes it like a band-aid, quick and easy-"

Hisoki's jaw dropped and Izumi's face blanched when she saw his message. Without a single thought, Izumi reached over, snatched the note and burned it to ash before anyone could say or see anything.

"KYA!" Katara yelled, swatting her daughter right then and there over the head as Kya disappeared into the crowd cackling madly. Tenzin watched her go with a furrowed brow and slight concern then for their friend, Izumi.

"Izumi, I thought we told you no bending on your wedding day," Mai whispered in Izumi's ear.

"I'm sorry, mother. I had to—" Izumi replied looking down at her now ash covered hand and the stain on her skirt where she had brushed off some of the ash without thinking.

"My gift for you both," Tenzin said, producing a giant stuffed dragon. "I made it for your children…" Tenzin said awkwardly. "When you have them… they could sleep with it!... so they don't grow up afraid of dragons, like I did." Tenzin blushed with embarrassment.

"Thank you, Tenzin! That is so thoughtful!" Izumi said, genuinely accepting the gift, careful to shake the ash off her hand before touching the stuffed animal.

Aang put a proud hand on his younger son's shoulder and led him away. Sokka came next accompanied by Lin and Suyin.

Sokka gifted them a child-sized sword fit for a young Fire Nation prince. Then Lin stepped forward.

"Should I be concerned? About you too, Lin," Hisoki asked the elder Beifong knowing her from Republic City. The fourteen year old looked up, unperturbed.

"I am not like Kya," she assured him. "I don't find pleasure by causing great discomfort for others. Unless they deserve it," Lin informed Hisoki, her green eyes glinting. Lin pulled her gift out of a concealed pocket of her dress robes and levitated it with her bending for them to see.

"It's a music box," she said flicking open the lid with a finger, not touching it, revealing a pair of metal jointed figures mounted to a mechanism on a track on a platform. She lowered it onto the table. "Turn the key," Lin ordered, sliding it towards the newly weds.

Izumi analyzed it with great curiosity and admiration, then nodded for Hisoki to wind up the thing.

The two figures on the platform moved, tiny gears ticking in their bodies as the band within the box unwound turning dozens of tiny mechanisms including a cylinder plucking keys.

"It's doing the dragon dance!" Hisoki exclaimed with glee looking up at the fourteen year old metalbender.

"To the hymn of the last dragons, if you couldn't tell. I know it's noisy now and kind of hard to hear," Lin said glancing over her shoulder at the crowd.

"That's incredible! AND you made it?" Izumi asked with bright kind eyes.

Lin shrugged. "Uncle Sokka helped design the mechanisms. He is the genius. I just provided the bending since there were just no tools small enough to work on something like this."

"You're too humble, Lin. I've seen Uncle Sokka's drawings. Most of this must have been you. Lin, I love it! Thank you!" Izumi exclaimed closing the lid, setting the gift aside.

"MY TURN!" Suyin exclaimed practically throwing her sister out of the way so she could have center stage. Lin snarled as Sokka places both hands on her shoulders to steady her rage.

"I know everyone is SOOOO eager for you to have a little prince but if or when you DO have a princess, I made for her, this!" Suyin said pulling out a lump of gold.

"A nugget?" Hisoki asked, side-eying his wife. Izumi stomped on his foot underground.

"She's only eight! Be kind!" Izumi hissed.

"It's just not just finished yet, but it doesn't take long, for me at least!" Suyin said pulling out her other hand. She tossed a handful of rubies into it like a magician might throw glitter on an illusion and then pulled the metal with one swift motion into a beautiful crown worn just under the hairline across the forehead.

"Woah!" Hisoki and Izumi both gasped as it sparkled and turned slowly through the air with the young girl's metalbending.

Satisfied, Suyin slid over to Sokka.

"At least MY gift is practical!" Lin muttered to Suyin.

Izumi leaned closer to listen to them, Hisoki following her lead.

"Practical? Yours is just a toy! My gift can be worn EVERY DAY by a little Princess of the Fire Nation!"

"And make said Princess a target for THEFT if RANSOM weren't enough for being a PRINCESS! And my gift isn't just a toy! It has a fundamental and ancient firebending form built into its platform so the child grows up watching it, knowing it since it has been, forever ingrained into its brain!" Lin said.

"What is the point? So you could control its mind like the Dai Li?"

"So it could defend itself from idiots like you!" Lin replied through gritted teeth.

"Break it up you two! We're at a royal wedding! Show a little dignity for Zumzu! And stop calling the not-even-yet-conceived child an IT!" Sokka scolded wrenching the girls apart by their grumpy little heads.

Both girls harrumphed and folded their arms turning away from each other, marching in opposite directions.

"Are the Beifong sisters always like this?" Hisoki asked Izumi quietly.

"Yes, unfortunately. It's complicated," Izumi replied.

"I don't recall seeing much of the little one when we were in Republic City,"

"That's because she was probably off training to join the Triads."

"Really? But isn't she also the chief's daughter?"

"Yes. Ironic, isn't it? The little delinquent infuriates Lin," Izumi chuckled.

"Naturally," Hisoki replied just as the next guest moved up to present their gifts.

During the reception, Izumi wanted nothing more than to just indulge herself in all of the finest dining she had ever seen.

"Careful love, if you do eat, you may not be able to keep it down wearing those bindings-" Mai whispered to her before going to her seat for the meal.

Izumi looked down at her drastically reduced waist, whimpering slightly as a plate was placed in front of her.

Hisoki noticed her disappointment and quickly deduced the reason. "How about this? I eat only as much as you, and then tonight, we raid the kitchens of the leftovers like commoners or something," he offered.

Izumi smiled, remembering something.

* * *

 _Izumi couldn't have been older than nine and Masaru, probably ten. Izumi was locked in her room for time out or something, but couldn't remember the reason. She did, however, remember Masaru kicking the grills off the opening of the ventilation shaft and crawling out into her bedroom._

" _They always say they've given us the best but they're lying!" Masaru said, offering her a pastry wrapped in a napkin. She ate it quickly. Oh! Now Izumi remembered. She had gotten angry with her Earth Kingdom Etiquette teacher that morning and chucked her tiny sandwich at the old bat in a tantrum she had. As punishment, the teacher sent her to her room promising no food for the rest of the day._

" _Come on! We've spent weeks planning this whole day and can't let you being under house arrest stop us from accomplishing our aims!" Masaru said offering a hand after Izumi had finished the pastry. Izumi took it without a second of hesitation, pulling the grills back into place and crawling, fallowing Masaru into the vents that ran through the palace. They couldn't have been older than nine or ten. They made it all the way to the kitchens, Masaru going first to check the coast was clear then kick out the grills over the opening. He always told her, if he were seen, for her to go back to her room. He didn't mind taking the blame. He always wanted to protect her._

" _See the scones, how perfect they are? And the fruit tarts! And the meats! The finest cuts are ACTUALLY given to the servant's. Some of the lords say it's wasted on a less worthy part of the population, but your father and I both disagree. We think it is absolutely necessary to treat the working class as our equals. Allow them nice food, for they too have to remain healthy and provide for their own family's too. It is only fair, don't you think?" Masaru asked._

 _Izumi nodded._

" _You're quiet, today aren't you, Zumzu?" Masaru asked, trying to read her face. "Is everything okay?"_

 _She just blinked at him. Oh gosh! She was so awkward then! "Della yelled at me," she mumbled._

" _Is that all? Oh Zumzu! Don't listen to them when they get mean. Only listen when they're teaching. It will all be much easier some day, when you become Fire Lord and you can tell THEM to stick their pinkies up and sit still for hours on end while you dance around them with all the fire in the world in the palms of your hands!" Masaru said, spinning around while creating a ring of red. Izumi laughed._

" _That does sound fun," She said skipping around him, leaving a trail of light yellow and white flames._

" _Now, what we came for!" Masaru said searching the storage racks while Izumi followed closely behind him, tiptoeing to peer over his shoulder._

" _Saru?"_

" _Hm?"_

" _What are you looking for in the baking racks?" Izumi asked._

" _Your favorites," Masaru said with his tongue sticking out as he searched with determination._

" _MY favorite?" Izumi asked._

" _I SEE IT!" Masaru yelled, wheeling out a tower of three dozen trays that Izumi didn't realize were mobile until Masaru sent one tower her way. She slid to the side and watched it roll to a stop then turned back to Masaru who pulled out a tray from the tower behind and presented it to Izumi. "Raspberry cream puffs, future Fire Lord Izumi?" Masaru offered with a bow._

 _Izumi giggled. He always called her that on bad days when she needed a reminder that she won't always have to be the young one obligated to obey._

" _Like great uncle Iroh says, life is like a dark tunnel. You may not see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving, you will always come to a better place," Masaru said as they both sat on the floor stuffing their faces with raspberry cream puffs._

" _And then, I told 'im if 'e gonna be taking those sacks o' feed, he gon' 'ave to get thru me!" one man said to another as they came down the stairs into the kitchens._

 _Izumi and Masaru looked at each other._

" _The vent!" Masaru said taking the tray and placing it back on the tower then rolling the free one back to its place._

" _Saru! Let's go!" Izumi whispered at the entrance._

" _Go first! I'll get the grills!" Masaru said lifting her off the ground, putting her on her back, shoving her into the vent on her back._

" _Saru!"_

" _Sh!" he said looking her straight in the eye, covering his lips with one finger._

" _I caught you this time, Masaru!" the baker said grabbing Masaru by the foot, yanking him out of the vent and lifting him off the ground. "Where's the little Princess?"_

" _I came alone!" Masaru answered quickly always ready to take the blame for his little lady. "Della got mad at Zumzu this morning and locked her in her room!"_

 _The Baker didn't buy it. "Check the vent!" he told his apprentice._

 _And lo and behold, Izumi crouched in there, petrified._

" _Come out please, you're not in trouble. Only him, your Highness," the apprentice said._

" _Well that's not very fair is it?" Izumi asked raising an eyebrow at the apprentice._

" _Sir?" the apprentice asked the Chef._

" _I suppose this is one of the times we call her mother."_

" _We could get the boy to pry her out of the vent," the apprentice suggested, not wanting to involve the Fire Lady._

" _Nah, he knows the vent system too well. The pair of them will just flee together," the chef sighed still dangling Masaru by his foot._

" _Oh! Perfect timing," came Fire Lady Mai's voice as she descended the steps into the kitchen followed by Izumi's maid, Iliana._

" _How did you know?" the baker asked dropping Masaru on the floor._

" _Please treat my ward a little more gently," Mai asked glancing down at the boy before looking back to the chef. "And to answer your question, I have informants," Mai said, turning to Iliana who bowed her head. "What is the damage this time?"_

" _We haven't had a chance to assess yet, my lady," the baker said with his hands folded neatly in front of him._

 _Mai turned to the racks of pastries and saw one was just slightly out of place. She bent down and inspected the trays behind it._

" _Raspberry cream puffs. Why am I not surprised? They're her favorite. Zumi, darling, please come out of the vent before you soil your clothing," Mai asked._

 _Izumi didn't budge._

" _Iliana also told me how Della told you no more food for the day after you threw your sandwich at her," Mai added. "I would have sneaked out of my room too, once I got hungry enough. I am not mad at you OR Saru. I understand he was only trying to help you."_

 _Izumi showed her little face at the mouth of the vent and looked up at her mother, her clothes already covered in the dust, dirt, and crumbs from the bakery that ended up in the vents at the end of the day._

" _Just a little more, darling," Mai said coaxing the girl to safety._

 _Izumi crawled out and stood up. Masaru stood next to her._

" _They're cute together," the baker commented._

" _They are," Mai said gazing down at their filthy clothing and their powdered sugar covered faces. Spirits, she loved them both so much. "Why don't we have dinner together, so you can tell us all about life inside the vents of the palace?"_

 _Izumi and Masaru glanced at each other and shrugged and followed Mai to go get bathed and changed._


	9. Coping

**(Border trigger warning. I tried to make it T enough for Teen, but ¯\\(°_o)/¯) Uncensored versions are on AO3 under the user "zhenyilani" Read at your own discretion.  
**

* * *

The new room was huge. Izumi got to it first with an army of maids to help her get her hair out of whatever that thing was woven to the top of her head. They helped her out of her wedding gown and into a simple, red silky robe.

"No nightgown?" Izumi asked.

"You shouldn't need it tonight," Iliana replied hanging up a string of beads.

They ironed Izumi's hair straight again so that she looked presentable for the night.

"Iliana," Izumi asked after all of the lower ranking maids left.

"Yes, Princess?"

"What exactly am I supposed to do tonight?" Izumi asked nervously.

Iliana took a deep breath and glanced at the door to make sure no one was there listening.

"You know how children are conceived,"

"The theory but-"

"Just- Hisoki will know what to do. Just listen to him," Iliana said. "I must go now, Princess. Just… no matter how things may change, never forget who you are."

"Why would I?" Izumi asked innocently.

Iliana's lip quivered. _Was she about to cry?_ "Permission to touch you, princess?" Iliana asked.

"You do when you dress me and fix my hair and makeup. Why do you ask now?" Izumi asked curiously.

Iliana pulled Izumi into a bosom filled hug. "It has been a pleasure serving you, Princess!" Iliana cried, bawling onto Izumi's head.

"You say that as if one of us are going into a battle from which we will never return," Izumi noted.

Iliana released the princess and looked at her innocent face knowingly. "Things will change," she said simply before fleeing the room, leaving Izumi to wait for Hisoki. _Where was he?_

She walked over to the bed and tested its firmness. She walked over to the window and took in the view. Then she walked over to the wardrobe, disappointed by its emptiness. She walked over to the bathroom, satisfied with the soap selection. Then she walked back to the dressing table. She would need to have a bookshelf brought in fully stocked. All of this waiting was getting awfully boring.

Finally she saw Hisoki.

"So are we going to raid the kitchens like 'commoners'?" she asked excitedly.

"I'm sorry, we can't tonight," Hisoki said sadly.

"Why?" Izumi asked. He stepped aside as the Fire Sages marched in, followed by both of their parents and a couple of guards. Izumi turned to Hisoki with a horror stricken face. "Are they staying?"

"They must witness the consummation of our marriage and ensure that we are trying for an heir," Hisoki explained looking just as displeased with the situation.

Izumi looked around, her mouth agape. The sages and all of their wrinkly faces were staring back at her. Her father's gaze was fixed on some nondescript place on the floor, averting his eyes, wanting to spare Izumi some dignity. Mai watched with the same expression she always wore. Hana looked exceedingly unhappy standing next to her husband, a tall, broad, war veteran about a decade older than Zuko and with just as many prominent scars.

Izumi was petrified. She thought of Iliana. "Hisoki will know what to do. Just listen to him."

"Come, now," Hisoki said slipping his fingers in between hers. She shivered, turning away from their audience and following him silently to their new bed.

He slipped off her robe and inspected his new possession.

* * *

" _There's a chute down this way that I read about in Avatar Aang's memoir!" Masaru said pointing at the other side of the volcanic lake._

" _We're supposed to be at the parade!" Izumi said._

" _So? It is not like we're IN the parade! Nobody will even know that we're missing. And what one doesn't know, can't hurt him!"_

" _How can they not know? Our clothes will be drenched once we come out of the other end of the chute!"_

" _Not if we take them off!"_

" _YOU said you wouldn't see what I had on underneath because of my stupid reputation!" Izumi glared at him._

" _Just leave your bindings! Girls dress like that all the time at the beach," Masaru said starting to disrobe and fold his festival clothes neatly on the beach._

 _Izumi watched him curiously then too started to disrobe. They both leapt in and began swimming to the other end of the lake. "This is CRAZY!" Izumi shouted with glee._

" _I KNOW!" Masaru replied. "But you CANNOT break protocol. If anyone comes, YOU hide and I cover," Masaru said._

" _Fine, Mr. Protector," Izumi rolled her eyes._

 _Masaru, impatient as ever used jet propulsion to shoot him across the water towards the chute. Izumi followed. They held onto a rock and watched the water fall through it._

" _What if it is actually just a whirlpool and we die?" Izumi asked._

" _Then I'll go first. If I make it to the other side, I'll send sparks up into the sky, Okay?"_

" _Why you?"_

" _Because your life is worth more than mine,"_

" _It isn't like that!"_

" _Yes it is! You are the PRINCESS!"_

" _Fine," Izumi grumbled._

" _Wish me luck!" Masaru said diving for the chute. Izumi held onto the rock and dipped her head below the water and watched Masaru disappear into what definitely looked like a chute._

 _Then she surfaced and pushed her hair out of her eyes and looked up at the sky, waiting._

 _Then she saw his sparks and dove into the chute. There was air space in the slide beyond the drain. She screamed with glee as she flew down the old magma channel then was shot out over a waterfall and fell twenty feet into more water._

" _What did you think?" Masaru asked._

" _That was…"_

" _Amazing!" Izumi exclaimed. They did three more runs before drying off and putting on her dress robes again._

" _You don't get upset when I take off my clothes," Izumi had commented to Masaru that afternoon._

" _Why would I?"_

" _I don't know. Della goes insane when my collar isn't straight, says it shows an indecent amount of neck," Izumi replied ironing it up with her fingers._

" _I don't care if you're clothed or not because it is your body, not mine. And it's just a body. I mean you as a person are the most wonderful, and unique human being I have ever met, but like- I don't see any issue with nudity," Masaru said._

" _Thanks," Izumi said. "For being so… real with me," Izumi said._

* * *

Izumi snapped out of her reverie when she felt herself being sat down on the edge of the bed and pushed back. "You have a burn mark on your side," Hisoki mentioned subconsciously before clasping his hand over his mouth.

"It's just a graze from when I was sparring Aunt Azula. It was nothing, really," Izumi replied casually looking up at the headboard, not sure what she was supposed to be feeling or doing if anything. Hisoki glanced at the fire sages, the fire lord, and the fire lady and then to his own parents. Did he hear that correctly? Sparring with Azula? THE Azula? Wasn't she supposed to still be in prison?

"Is that a bad thing?" Izumi asked sitting up again, noticing the awkward silence and eerie stillness in the room. "It's just an external scar! It doesn't affect my fertility, does it?" Izumi inquired staring straight at the oldest, presumably 'wisest' looking Fire Sage.

"N-no it sh-shouldn't, P-p-princess," the ancient man said.

"Then what is the issue?!" Izumi demanded turning to Hisoki. Out of her peripherals, she saw Zuko hide his face with humiliation and Mai cover a smile.

"This girl is-" Hana couldn't even find the words. "Precocious, maybe."

"We're not supposed to be commentating. Only watching," Mai whispered to Hana.

Hana growled.

Izumi suddenly felt self conscious about her burn mark and folded her arms over her body and moved her knees together, wanting to become as small as possible and maybe even disappear.

"Is this really your first time?" Hisoki asked tenderly.

"Of course!" Izumi snarled. "I am a Princess! Not a whore! How dare you even suspect such a thing!" Izumi growled uncovering her chest to push herself almost to standing again in a flash of fury.

"Just making sure," he said taking her wrists, walking her back to the bed, laying her down again.

Hana exhaled impatiently.

"It's just that… Kya seemed to imply-"

"Kya is just-like that!" Izumi took a deep breath. "You can't take her seriously. Not always, at least." Izumi looked away but Hisoki didn't seem convinced. "She's another girl! She couldn't physically fuck me if she wanted to!" Izumi replied in a matter-of-fact manner.

Some of the fire sages clasped their hands over their mouths over the Princess's use of profanity. Hana gasped and Hana's husband's eyes narrowed. Zuko was reddening and Mai just rolled their eyes at everyone else's reaction. _She's just a girl, for spirit's sake, and a young one._

"Are you at all afraid?" Hisoki asked.

"No!" Izumi lied. _Should I be?_

Hisoki shrugged and removed his pants while Izumi watched. When she saw him, her heart started racing. Maybe she should have taken up Kya's offer to fist her. She had poked around herself curiously when she was fourteen and first started bleeding, but she wasn't sure how he was going to get _that_ inside of her. At that moment, she wanted to flee. She'd rather run into a storm of fire, water, earth, and blades then look at Hisoki again, standing there.

"Good," he said approaching her.

* * *

Izumi tried to think of something else besides the pain of Hisoki's movements. She tried to think of vacations on Ember Island, riding on a sky bison with Avatar Aang, pro-bending with Kya and Lin, that one summer Bumi tried to court her only to be beat by his sister. Anything!

There was a yelp followed by a searing pain across Izumi's face. Izumi's wrists were warm, but free. She opened her eyes to see Hisoki gone.

"MAD WOMAN! How dare you burn me!" Hisoki yelled rinsing the hand that held her wrists together under the sink. She looked down at her warm hands, shaking.

"I did that?" Izumi asked seeing several layers of his skin begin to blister already and slough off.

"I thought your daughter had control over her bending-" Hana said to Mai.

"She's in pain. If you were a bender, you'd know how hard it is to control such a thing under extreme stress," Mai replied diplomatically.

"She is mentally and emotionally weak. She should be happy to be able to fulfill her duty to her nation."

"She is about to receive permission to roast you alive if you don't stop talking!" Zuko interjected.

Hana closed her mouth and stepped away from the Fire Lord and Fire Lady.

"Are we going to have any more problems?" the oldest Fire Sage asked Izumi. She looked down at her pelvis.

"It's still not done yet?" Izumi asked miserably

"No, it is not done yet," the Fire Sage said stepping back, as Hisoki returned with his hand wrapped tightly in a bandage.

He looked at Izumi with disgust. Izumi realized then he had slapped her when she burned his hand subconsciously.

"I'm sorry," She said looking at his hand. By the damage, she had bypassed the cooler red temperature and used the extremely hot blue fire. "It won't happen again," she said.

"And if it does?" Hisoki asked.

Izumi looked to her parents for help but they gave none. What they were doing was necessary.

Hisoki sighed. "Just lay back down again so we can get this over with." he ordered. She did. He climbed onto the bed, but before starting again, pulled the curtains of the four poster bed closed, blocking them from view, and Izumi almost wished he hadn't. "Bite down on this," He said pulling over a corner of the blanket.

"Why?"

"So I can give you something to distract you from your pain," he said.

Iliana said to listen to Hisoki. He knew what he was doing. Or at least he was more experienced than she. She took the bit of blanket in her mouth and laid back down. He pinned her wrists and legs again. This time his free hand, instead of supporting himself, he placed it on her bare stomach. As soon as the skin made contact, he electrocuted her at point blank with a special precision technique that did not leave scars like Azula left on Zuko's chest. This technique left the muscular system paralyzed temporarily. Izumi couldn't even scream, let alone move. All she could do was see and feel what was happening. Her bending, was gone for the time being.

And it felt… disgusting. She couldn't tilt her head or sit up or move anything when he removed the blanket corner from her mouth, and let go of her wrists.

"It is done," he announced.

The eldest of the Fire Sages inspected the result before filing out of the room. Hana and her husband walked to Hisoki's side of the bed and congratulated him on officially bedding the Princess.

Mai and Zuko came to check on Izumi. Izumi wanted to say something. To scream to cry, but she couldn't even blink. She just felt a tear slide down her cheek. She saw her mother touch her forehead and turn to whisper something to Zuko. Zuko touched Izumi's head, and then her hand. And then both.

He was livid.

Izumi watched as Mai held Zuko's arms back. She watched his growing fury.

 _Father! Father! He just- he just was doing what was necessary! I understand- we- he had to since I can't- since I can't control my bending like this- Izumi wanted to say, but neither her lips nor her vocal chords could move. It was a wonder how she was still breathing._

"Is something wrong?" Hana asked innocently.

"If your son ever does this to my daughter ever again,"

"Fuck her?"

"No, use dark lightning," Zuko said.

"It was necessary, for both of our safety, Fire Lord Zuko. Forgive me," Hisoki replied.

Zuko didn't respond.

"Just go, I'll be in in a bit," Mai said sending Zuko away. She bent down to plant a kiss on Izumi's fore head, with her hand behind the girl's neck.

"Rest, my love. You've had a long day, and a lot has changed," Mai whispered directly into Izumi's ear before pressing a point on the girl's neck, under her hair, putting her to sleep instantly.

Mai glowered at Hisoki's parents.

"Hisoki is her husband and until now, I had no reason to believe he would hurt her, but you two? I haven't had the opportunity to watch your every move for two years. And Hana, I have heard a little bird tell me that you explicitly stated that your belief is Izumi shouldn't be happy and because of that, you and your husband are both banned from the palace, effective immediately. My servants have already collected your things," Mai said to Hana and her husband.

Hana's husband left willingly, glad the ordeal was over. Hana on the other hand stared at Mai challengingly.

"You will regret this, Fire Lady Mai."

* * *

Izumi woke before Hisoki. She tried to sit up, but fell back again as the soreness between her legs was nearly unbearable. She saw on the dressing table across the room, someone had finally brought clothing for her. She pulled on a simple crimson dressing gown and a dark robe tying it loosely around her naturally small waist. She ran her fingers through her long black hair and left the room bare feet, not once looking back, not wanting to remain in that place.

"Princess!" Iliana called.

Izumi turned.

"You're not supposed to ever be unaccompanied anymore!" Iliana gasped.

"Then do join me as I find my mother," Izumi replied from a distant place in the back of her mind.

Iliana looked at her with grave concern. "She's in her tea room. She's been waiting for you actually, but there is no need to rush. She just wanted to check in when you were ready,"

Izumi took a deep breath and pushed the door open to the tea room where her mother sat, the food untouched, looking out the window.

"How are you feeling, Izumi?" Mai asked, offering her daughter the single seat across from her.

"Like I have been torn apart from the inside," Izumi replied bitterly as she slowly began to sit, before thinking against it. "I won't use the chair." Iliana bowed and took it away.

"It hurt that badly?" Mai asked also distant, clearly having been thinking about her daughter for quite a while now.

Izumi nodded. "Mhm," as she took a sip of the tea. "Mother,"

"Yes, Zumi?"

"Did it hurt this much for you, the first time you and Father…. Did it?" Izumi asked.

Mai drew a breath. "Only for a moment. That first push is always the worst, but then as time passed, it became such a wonderful thing. Your father and I, we never wanted to leave each other's embrace the next morning. We remained an entanglement of limbs until servant Shoma came to remind your father of his other duty to the nation and took him away.

"That is what Hisoki said would happen- that the pain would go away, but it didn't for me. Why? Is there something wrong with me? Am I broken?" Izumi asked, her eyes filled with uncertainty and fear.

Mai pitied the girl and hated herself for allowing her child to suffer such. "Izumi, Your father and I love each other very much and have for a very long time. I know you love your country, and I know you would do anything for it, as exemplified last night, but making yourself truly love another somebody is a completely different challenge. I am so sorry, Izumi."

"So it will always hurt?"

"Unless he can make you truly love him. It will hurt," Izumi did not respond but merely lifted her cup to her dark lips and drank. She stood perfectly still. _There's a dangerous calm about her,_ Mai thought as she analyzed her child. Her brows slightly pursed. She was deep in thought about something and Mai had a feeling it wasn't going to be a good thing.

Izumi lowered her tea cup from her lips, looking out the window at their country. Mai saw her knuckles turn white. Anger.

"Let it out, Zumzu," Mai said seeing fluid collect in the corners of her daughter's golden tangerine eyes.

"Why couldn't YOU have a second child? Why has the fate of our entire family fallen on ME to procreate. Why is it so necessary in the first place? Why am I the only current heir? EXPLAIN THAT, Mother!" Izumi yelled throwing the empty cup into the wall, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

Mai remained calm and collected as she always did. It was a habit more than anything. "Because, Izumi, you were a miracle child."

"How can you say that? How can you possibly act like you love me when you've done nothing but subject me to torture for the past few days, and then force me into a loveless marriage?!" Izumi cried.

"There were complications with your birth, Izumi. The cord that bound us to each other before you were born threatened to strangle you in the womb. If that weren't enough of a scare, you were breech and still coming. It tore me apart to bring you in this world. It wasn't a small laceration like you probably got last night. It was a massive tear that caused me to lose two pints of blood and go into shock. The only way the healers could save both of us was if they removed my ability to carry ever again," Mai confessed. Her face unchanging as Izumi's contorted in devastation. "I never cared for heirs or spares. I wanted a child. I wanted you, to love and to hold, forever. To teach you everything I know. I wanted to give you a brother or sister. I wanted to give you a friend."

"If you wanted to give me a friend, and you wanted to see me happy, then why did you take in Masaru only to send him away?! He was my ONLY friend here in the Fire Nation!"

"I wanted to keep him in the castle, Izumi. He was like a son to me. The son I always wanted, but I wanted him to be happy too. Honey, he had to go away, because even though your father and I viewed him as a son, he never saw you as his sister, but his one true love and soulmate. But we all have to prove to our nation that you have its best interests at heart."

"It is not fair," Izumi sighed, falling to her knees and resting her head in her mother's lap.

"I know love, and I am sorry that we had to sacrifice you for the nation. Believe me, I hate it too, but there is no other option to maintain stability. I know it is a bit daunting, the whole marriage thing and dealing with Hisoki, but like I've said before it will become much easier when you have the child.

"The sex?"

"Everything," Mai said tucking her hair behind her ear.

* * *

Izumi stayed in Azula's sector of the palace, where nobody except for the royal family proper were allowed to go, for the rest of the day. She read historical tales and legends and did everything in her power to not see anyone or allow anyone to see her. She was afraid. Finally, once darkness fell, she made her way back to her new bedroom, the entire time, having half the mind to try to return to her old one and barricade the door.

She bathed and brushed her own hair and considered putting it in a braid so that it would be wavy the next day.

"You didn't run around the capital this morning or attend your firebending training or attend breakfast, lunch, or dinner with your parents," Hisoki said, reaching over her shoulder to put something on the table. She leaned away from him.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you last evening. I was… probably just as scared of getting burned as you were of… me," Hisoki said.

"I'm not afraid of duty," Izumi replied sternly. "And I understand why you did what you did. I was in no state to endure that… _type_ of pain."

"Of course," Hisoki replied, eyeing her skeptically. "Is that why you have been avoiding me all day?"

"I've been avoiding everybody today; you're not special,"

"Thanks," he said sarcastically.

"Look, Hisoki, I have just had a lot on my mind lately!" Izumi said turning on her vanity bench, watching Hisoki change out of his nobleman robes.

"Would you mind sharing? I've had a couple of things on mine I'd like to get off as well, actually," Hisoki asked.

"Hisoki, do you love me?" Izumi asked.

Hisoki sighed. "Princess Izumi, I love the Fire Nation, and I am loyal to your father's reign, and I admire you greatly for your intelligence, your heart, your strength, your beauty and your love for your nation, but I do not love you… and I assume you could probably say the same about me," Hisoki said knowingly.

"I'm sorry," Izumi said, her voice breaking, tears stinging her eyes.

"How many times must I tell you to stop apologizing?" Hisoki asked placing both hands on her shoulders. Izumi visibly tensed under his touch.

"What am I supposed to say?" She asked hopelessly.

"Say nothing at all," Hisoki replied. "Just accept what is. We don't need love for each other to serve our nation." he said extending a hand to her.

"I suppose. It is just… such a sad existence," Izumi whispered to herself as she accepted and followed him to bed.

"We at least every night until you conceive," Hisoki told her.

She gulped nervously. "How can the body even hold that much?"

"It doesn't. Your body has defenses against any seed and every other foreign body. It is like a warzone in there.I must overwhelm the defenses and conquer my way to your egg to get you pregnant.

Izumi grimaced trying to picture what that could possibly mean.

"Are you going to paralyze me tonight?"

"Do you want me to?"

"No,"

"Do you need me to?"

"I hope not," Izumi confessed.

The second time was not as bad. She was sore and everything still hurt, but it wasn't quite as excruciating as before. When he finished, she rolled over, curling up, wanting nothing more than to close her eyes and-

"What are you doing?" She screamed as he pulled her towards him and pressed her front side into the mattress.

"You need to conceive. The more seed, the higher the chances. The higher the chances, the sooner it happens and the less you must endure. Just go with it, Izumi. For both of us," Hisoki reasoned.

Izumi nodded, scared as he took her for the second time that night.

* * *

 _Izumi stood against the bedpost, as Iliana laced her into a corset and Hisoki dressed himself._

" _I don't understand your mother," Izumi commented. "She expects me to grow you a child but insists on binding my torso every morning."_

" _She tells me the bindings will come off once you stop bleeding," Hisoki replied buttoning up his shirt._

" _Hmph,"_

" _I'm sorry, Princess Izumi. I dislike seeing you in discomfort and would do anything to help if I could-"_

" _Then stand up to her! You've outranked her ever since marrying me!" Izumi said._

" _No, I don't. She's the Fire Lady," Hisoki replied._

" _What?" Izumi turned to Iliana who said nothing._

" _Tea, Servant," Hana ordered entering the room wearing the traditional garbs of the Fire Lady, hairpiece and everything._

" _Yes, My Lady," Iliana said with a curtsey before leaving._

" _No! You're not! You're just some noblewoman from a tiny island! My mother is the Fire Lady!" Izumi said backing away from Hana. "Fire Lady Mai!"_

 _Hana walked closer. "The woman who gave birth to you died in a tragic accident, Princess Izumi," Hana replied walking closer still, backing Izumi into a corner._

" _No! She's not dead! She wouldn't be foolish enough to die in an accident!" Izumi yelled lunging up at Hana. Hana slid to the side and laughed as no fire came from Izumi's fist._

" _What?" Izumi gasped. She tried to bend but nothing happened. "What happened to my bending._

" _We had the Avatar take it away. You were far too troublesome with it and we needed a lady, not a soldier. Now, you are nothing," Hana whispered. "And you can NEVER be a Fire Lord."_

 _Hana grabbed Izumi, forcibly turning her to face the bed and grabbed hold of the laces of the corset and pulled. The Princess screamed._

* * *

And then woke up, in a cold sweat, panting. She turned and saw saw a man lying in bed next to her. She jumped out, shaking, then remembered, it was just her husband, and that she was married.

 _I have to get out!_

She grabbed a plain dark wine colored gown and a black cloak and jumped out of the window of her bedroom. She took a route composed of seldom used halls, paths, and secret tunnels to get out of the palace.

She found the street of Ashbury Road easily and located the gate with the Earthen Fire Company logo.

 _Only two guards? Pitiful!_

Izumi sneaked around the back and launched herself over the gate with jet propulsion from her feet, keeping her hood over her head as she ran across the garden up to the edge of the house. She looked up searching for an open window.

 _There!_

Izumi launched herself up through the window, landing on the carpeted floor in a dive roll onto her feet. The hallway must have been at least fifteen feet wide. From the outside, Masaru's place looked like just a normal, rich man's house. On the inside?

 _Great! This place must be about as big as Azula's sector of the Palace!_ Izumi thought to herself with frustration.

Just then Izumi heard footsteps coming down the hall. She ducked behind a pillar.

"Yeah! Day shift is always lagging!" one guard said with a tired sigh.

"Tell me about it," the other agreed. The footsteps stopped.

They knew! Fuck! Thought Izumi. One must have been an earthbender, and the other, a firebender. She could flee. The open window was right there. Return to the palace, go back to sleep. But how she longed for some sort of familiarity that wasn't her mother or father. She would have to fight to see him. In a fleeting second, Izumi blasted blue fire down the hall only to have it split by red from one of the guards. Through the blinding light came a pair of rock gloves locking Izumi's wrists behind her back, then more small stones locked her ankles together and then even more secured her arms to her waist so she couldn't try to lift them over her head. She fell over onto her already sore hip with a grunt and her hood slipped off.

"Huh?" both guards gasped stepping back, recognizing the Princess instantly from the newspapers that morning containing the new portrait of the Royal family with the addition of Hisoki.

"What is all of this commotion?" a man asked emerging from his office.

"Milord!" the two guards said bowing and stepping back waving to Izumi.

"Saru-" Izumi said with pleading eyes.

"How did this happen?" Masaru asked his guards.

"We believe she came through the window," the firebending guard said.

"Should we remove the cuffs?" the earthbending guard asked.

"We don't know her intentions," the firebending guard announced.

"I know exactly what they are," Masaru said, glaring at Izumi. She winced. She had never seen his anger directed at her. He turned and went back into his office leaving the door open.

"Saru, wait!" Izumi called sitting up with mild difficulty with her hands still tied behind her back and fixed to her waist.

Masaru picked up the phone and began punching in numbers. Izumi remembered then that Masaru was one of seven people in the world who had Fire Lord Zuko's direct line.

"No!" Don't call him!" Izumi begged.

"Hello, Uncle. Forgive me for contacting you at this ungodly hour, but your daughter has been discovered on my premises and needs to be removed before she does something that she will most certainly regret," Masaru said.

"Saru please!" Izumi begged, tears stinging her eyes.

"Yes, all the guards are okay… They are well trained and were warned something like this may happen over the course of the next few months. Just none of them expected her to come so soon after the wedding…. No she did not kill anybody as far as I can tell… Yes, I understand… thank you, Uncle…. I will see you soon," Masaru hung up the phone and turned to his two guards.

"Lu, Yen, please escort the princess to the reception room on the ground floor. I will meet you there in a moment after I finish this last form,"

"Yes, Master,"

 _This is humiliating!_ Thought Izumi. _Being lead away in rock chains. I only wanted to say hello, to say something, to be with someone I know that weren't my parents or Iliana or Kei-Lo!_

Izumi tried to memorize the corridors as she was lead to the reception room, contemplating tripping the escorts and sprinting back to Masaru, but didn't. Finally, they reached the reception room and they sat her down to wait, adjusting the rock bindings so her hands could rest comfortably in her lap and not put strain on her shoulders.

"Would you mind if we shared a few words, Princess?" Lu asked.

"Not at all," Izumi replied slouching with her forearms on her knees looking like a mere commoner. "It will past the time at least."

"When the Master of the house warned us that you might come in the next few weeks, we really didn't believe him," Lu began.

"And why is that? Masaru is a good and honest man," _unlike me._

"It is just that… you're a princess… no, THE PRINCESS, and we didn't think he was that important to anybody let alone YOU!" Lu said.

"He was my best friend," Izumi sighed. _How could he not be important to me?_

"You were never his," Lu replied.

Izumi looked up at him, puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

"He wanted to marry you, Princess. Wanted to donate his fortune and properties to the crown. He was willing to nationalize his half of Earthen Fireworks to give you whatever you needed. We heard him lamenting about it a few months ago before he burned the planned dowry the day your engagement was officially announced,"

"Really?" Izumi asked.

"He still cares about you Princess and doesn't want to see you or your family hurt in any way which is why he has been so distant, which is why he did not speak to you directly today. I am sorry if it hurts, Princess. I just thought you ought to know," Lu said.

"What gossip are you filling her head with, Lu? I told you to escort her to the reception room. I did not give you permission to talk to her," Masaru's voice boomed down the hall as he walked towards them. Both guards stood up at attention and saluted.

"Saru- I'm sorry!" Izumi cried.

Masaru said nothing to her but motioned to the double doors at the end of the room as they swung open. Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai entered, flanked by exactly a dozen palace guards.

"Mother? Father? You BOTH came?" Izumi asked, startled by their entrance.

"Izumi," Zuko said deeply.

"Father, I can explain- I had a nightmare and needed to-"

"Izumi, I've done my best to give you as much freedom as I can within reason that is fit for a Princess of your standing. I've tried to allow you to make your own decisions with your friends and how you spend your time, but you are a married woman now. You are not a child whose mistakes can be dismissed with the wave of a hand-"

"Mistakes? Father, please-"

"I don't ask much of you, Izumi, but this? This cannot be forgiven. You have a duty now to your husband and your people as CROWN Princess of the Fire Nation,"

"I know but,-"

"I thought that by allowing you unchecked freedom in your youth, you would create happy memories and develop a greater appreciation for the little things in life, but instead, that freedom has only made you greedy-"

"What?"

"From now on, you will be guarded twenty-four-seven by Kei-Lo and Ido,"

"But-"

"EVEN while you sleep!" Zuko added.

"Father!" Izumi yelled over him.

'You have broken my trust, Izumi, and you have failed your Aunt Azula's training by getting caught," Zuko said looking down upon his daughter with overwhelming disappointment.

"Father-" Izumi sniffled.

Mai had an idea. "Zuko," she said quietly, glaring down at her daughter. "Pull back," she suggested. "Maybe we overestimated Izumi's capabilities," Mai said. Izumi whimpered. "Maybe she is just weaker than we expected her to be by this age," Mai said delivering a severe but necessary blow to her daughter's ego. Mai knew she would build it back up again, but in the meantime, she needed to be humbled so she would quit sneaking out of the Palace.

Izumi blinked away tears of anger and grief. She never felt so alone. She'd disappointed both parents, and couldn't be consoled by Masaru since he refused to speak to her. She had nobody.

"Are you the earthbender?" Zuko asked the guard with the green collar.

"Yes, my lord," Lu said, bowing stiffly.

"WIll you please release my daughter? We can take it from here," Zuko asked politely.

The guard pulled the rocks back to their resting place on his hands.

"Like a trained Dai Li," Zuko commented.

Lu smiled. "Everyone has a past," he said, nodding at the Fire Lord.

"And everyone has a future," Mai added, reaching out a hand to Izumi. The girl looked up at her mother and stood shrugging her mother's hand off her shoulder like a petulant child, not wanting to touch anybody.

* * *

"Nobody will know about this little escapade, Izumi. Not even Hisoki," Mai said sternly.

Izumi did not respond, only blinked away tears as she looked out the window of the carriage.

"When you get back to bed, you'll tell Hisoki you had to go to the bathroom," Mai ordered.

"I'm not going back to that bed," Izumi said firmly.

"You will!" Zuko barked.

"Zuko," Mai checked him again. She gazed into her daughter's sparkling eyes with a tiny bit of pity. "When we get back to the palace, You go to sleep. I'll stay up with Izumi and make sure she doesn't go off running again," Mai said.

"But my love-" Zuko began to protest.

"She may be the crown princess, and she may be married, but she is still just a baby and will remain one until she has a child of her own."

Zuko sighed resignedly. "Alright."

* * *

Once Zuko had gone to bed, Mai took Izumi to a parlor in an isolated part of the castle, dismissing their guard somewhere along the way so they could have a bit privacy, knowing it was something her dear girl had been severely lacking as of late.

Mai laid her daughter down on a couch in the parlor and brought her a blanket, sitting beside her, so the girl could rest her head in her mother's lap like when she was younger.

"So you had a nightmare?" Mai asked.

 _At least someone listens!_ Izumi nodded.

"Would you like to share?"

"You were dead. Died in some accident somewhere and Hana was Fire Lady and she controlled everything! She even commanded the Avatar to take my bending away so that I couldn't fight her when she tried to force me into a corset for the day!" Izumi sniffled.

Mai gazed into the dark fireplace. "Light it, Izumi," Mai ordered. Izumi untucked one hand from under the blanket and pointed two fingers at the fireplace and shot a tiny but powerful spark across the room setting it ablaze. "There, bending restored," Mai said, stroking her daughter's head. "Now rest, daughter. You are safe from Hana. She has already been banished from the Capital for her treatment of you, and I am never leaving you." Mai said affectionately before sliding a finger behind Izumi's neck, blacking her out.

Hisoki woke up the next morning in a panic. "Zu? Izumi!"

"Sir!" Iliana said rushing in. "Please don't be alarmed. The Princess merely had a bad dream last night and didn't want to wake you. She is with her mother now. They're both sleeping. I can take you to see them," Iliana offered.

"Thank you, Hisoki followed her quickly, throwing on a robe on the way.

In that distant room, Mai sat with her head leaning back on the rim of the couch and her eyes closed, lost in thought while her daughter slept soundly.

Mai opened her eyes to find Hisoki before her. "Is she okay?" Hisoki asked with genuine concern.

Mai looked down at her girl's sleeping form and carressed her temple like a mother did to a newborn babe. "She's just a little shaken. It is to be expected of a young bride," Mai replied softly.

Hisoki let out a sigh of relief and sat down opposite them.

"I am sorry if I frightened her last night," Hisoki said.

Mai continued to stroke the girl's face like a babe. "She is a strong warrior, a brave princess, but she is still just a girl." Mai reminded Hisoki.


	10. New Izumi

In the grassy courtyard, Izumi sat with her spine slightly arched, her shoulders down and back, neck stretched, ankles crossed and hands folded neatly on the edge of the table. Azula oversaw all of her training. She was the only one with enough patience, and raw power to deal with the incredibly unstable princess.

After a week of avoiding of all human life, Izumi began attending her lessons again. That only lasted a few days before she nearly killed her weapons master when she got frustrated with her broadswords and began firebending with them. Her weapons master was only wearing pants and suffered burns on his back when he tried to run away. She then exploded again during her Earth Kingdom etiquette lessons and threw a teapot at the wall and a small sandwich at her teacher's face. Then during a gown fitting, she burned a set of robes to ash after she tripped on the skirt on her way to change. Every attempt to do anything left the Princess in tears and somebody hurt.

They supervised Hisoki having sex with her then gave him his own room for the night for his own safety.

Only Azula was able to ease Izumi into doing anything.

They began with just meditation two weeks after the wedding. Then from meditation, waterbending forms. No fire, no fighting, just motion. Then they began going to the kitchens, watching the bakers and the chefs, sometimes even helping.

"What is the trick?" Zuko asked Azula, visiting the kitchens to check in on his sister and daughter.

"Just don't talk to her," Azula shushed, watching Izumi rolling out dough. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and brushed her flour dusted palms on her apron. Fetching a dough cutter for pastries, Izumi cut the dough into little triangles and laid them out on a baking tray in perfectly symmetrical rows.

"It's perfect, Princess," the chef said, accepting the tray.

Izumi approached Azula and Zuko.

"May I pass to go to the bathroom?"

"Of course, Niece," Azula replied stepping aside.

Now they were trying to give her her standard lessons again.

"Pour the tea, and if you get it wrong again, you have to do six hundred and eighty hot squats. And if you collapse before you finish, you will have to do a hundred and ninety more," Azula ordered the Princess.

"It is just tea," Izumi replied, staring at the ceramic pot with boredom. "How many ways can there possibly be to pour it?"

"One, but since you haven't been able to pour a single satisfactory cup in the last six weeks, we have to reteach you now."

Izumi's eyes narrowed with annoyance. She picked up the pot with one hand and held the lid with the other pouring Azula's cup.

"Good,"

Then her own.

"She is not focused," Mai called quietly from the balcony above where she and Zuko watched with worry. And then the teacup over flowed.

"Flaming hog monkeys!" Izumi cursed setting the pot down standing up as Azula shook her head.

"Six hundred and eighty, Zumzu. Lets go," Azula ordered.

"I'd rather do this for the rest of my life than pour that STUPID teapot," Izumi muttered, starting the exercise.

"Language, Izumi. A Princess should never use profanity. It shows a lack of intellect."

Izumi growled.

"Nor should one use guttural sounds. You're not an animal; or at least we think you aren't. Your recent behavior may indicate otherwise," Azula said with a smirk.

After Izumi finished all six hundred eighty hot squats she collapsed, the muscles in her legs and lower back spasming.

"Did Azula just kill her?" Zuko asked Mai.

"Did you really just watch the entire time?" Mai asked. Zuko turned to look at her. She had gone away, fetched a whetstone, come back and now stood with her back to the courtyard, leaning against the railing, sharpening the dozens of blades she carried up her sleeves.

Zuko frowned. "I wanted to make sure Azula didn't hurt Izumi."

"She won't," Mai sighed. "Trust me. We have been discussing her methods and monitoring Zumi's progress daily."

"Go take a bathroom break and then stretch. I have to go receive somebody," Azula ordered Izumi.

Izumi slowly pulled herself off the ground and walked off with great difficulty, cursing her merciless aunt under her breath.

"I thought Azula wasn't allowed to have guests," Zuko commented, turning to his wife with surprise.

"It is one of my guests. I thought he could be useful," Mai replied.

"You know I really don't like you going behind my back and conspiring with my sister again," Zuko commented.

"We're not conspiring against you. It is for Izumi, and you're busy running the nation. Let us handle this."

Azula returned with a young earthbending guard from Masaru's Estate.

"Lu?" Zuko asked Mai. She nodded.

"Just watch, Zuko," Mai reminded him. Zuko pouted and rested his chin on the railing.

"Here's the deal," Azula said, opening her hands casually. Izumi glared, recognizing him instantly from Saru's house. "Lu here is a metalbender. We are going to practice your defensive forms now, and if you mess up, Lu is going to wrap this cable around your bare little midriff there and I am going to charge it," Azula said holding up two fingers, making a couple sparks of lightning.

"That's inhumane!" Izumi yelled jumping back. "I am a princess! Not a koala-sheep or a buffalo-cow that you can herd around!"

"Then start ACTING like a Princess, Izumi!" Azula yelled back.

"I've been trying!" Izumi yelled lashing out at her aunt with a fire whip. Azula blocked it effortlessly. "I have been my whole life! I just need a break!" Izumi yelled turning away, pulling at her own hair.

"Princesses don't get breaks!" Azula replied.

"YOU had a break!" She screeched turning back to her aunt, stepping dangerously close to the former Princess of the Fire Nation. "A fourteen year break in PRISON!"

"That was forced retirement after my father destroyed me!" Azula laughed. "Yours asks so little of you and this is how you repay him? With defiance?"

Izumi laughed incredulously. "So little? Your father told you to conquer a kingdom! You got to be in command of ships, mechanists, zeppelins and soldiers when you were fourteen! I am twenty and what do I get to do? I get to be subject to STUPID lessons and rape DAILY!" Her teeth were bared like a feral animal, her normally beautiful face was scrunched up in agony, and her fists clenched so tightly that her nails pierced her hands and her palms bled.

Zuko's eyes widened and his head hung in shame. He had been so consumed with his Fire Lord duties that he neglected his own daughter. He thought he was doing the right thing. Letting her be free in her youth then giving her responsibilities when he thought she was ready, but…..

Zuko and both Mai's eyes widened at the outburst, with Mai doing a much better job than Zuko at hiding her shame. Ever since their daughter could walk they had subjected Izumi to etiquette lessons, firebending intensives, and hours of history lectures in an effort to arm her with knowledge and customs of all Four Nations, for at least half of every day, so that she may be better equipped than he had been to lead their nation through continued peace with the others. But in prioritizing the preparation of the new Fire Lord, they had neglected the girl underneath that would be the heart of their nation's future. They both knew all too well what happened when a father put too much on his daughter's shoulders, they thought sadly, looking down at his Azula.

Zuko leaned his head on the railing of the balcony in shame, coming to realize the gravity of the situation. He had been a fool to let her spend the rest of her time pursuing whatever she liked without restraint, building up unrealistic expectations for how a member of a royal family should behave. Or maybe he was expecting her to be like a royal of old in the first place? His rule was supposed to be one of reform in the Fire Nation, was it not? Had he not ended an oppressive 100 year war with the Avatar so that he could enact change and spread peace? And here he was with his new family; his daughter was feeling just as much, if not more, turmoil and pain as he did when he was fifteen. He had failed his daughter, and in doing so failed himself as a father.

Mai's brows sloped downward only slightly. She too had failed as a mother. Like her own parents, she had spent the last few years worrying so much about how the family appeared to the nation, and heeding the orders of the Fire Sages, that she had severed fibers in the fabric that held their family. Everything had been for the good of the Fire Family, for the Dynasty, for Zuko's reign. Just like how Mai's entire image had been sculpted solely to support Ukano's political climb in Ozai's time. She had promised herself that when she became a mother she would _never_ allow her children to be used as political pawns in a game that wasn't theirs to play. But her inability to carry more children had left them no choice. Hisoki's home was far from the Fire Nation Capital, and provided a solution to the Crown's waning influence on the outer islands, but was marrying off her only daughter the only option to solving such prickly internal issues. Was it worth it? At the time, she thought they were killing two birds with one stone; Izumi having to marry full Fire Nation, and possibly preventing an uprising, but was it worth betraying her daughter? Sacrificing her life and happiness. Izumi had trusted her mother unquestioningly all her life, even more so than her father, and now look where they were. Izumi was under severe emotional duress and she had dismissed it as some small, temporary thing.

With no expression on her face, Azula too stepped forward, intercepting Izumi. She put out the Princess's fire with ease and slapped her palm onto the girl's forehead, freezing her entire body in place with the use of dark lighting. Azula closed her eyes.

"What does she think she is doing?" Zuko asked, about to march down to the courtyard to stop Azula before Mai caught his hand.

"She's not going to hurt Izumi. Not physically, at least. I just asked her to check if Izumi is pregnant," Mai replied.

A smile spread across the ex-convict's face.

"Well that explains everything," Azula said letting go of the girl's head, making her fall to her knees.

"What did you just do to me?" Izumi asked panting.

"I mapped the electrical pathways in your body."

"I don't have electrical pathways in my body! I am not a robot or something-"

"No, you are not a robot. You are a human. Your muscles and nervous system operate on electrical pathways. And it appears you're growing a second of each system in there," Azula said pointing at Izumi's lower belly.

Izumi looked up at her with misery.

"You're pregnant," Azula informed Izumi.

"No!" Izumi shook her head. "NO!" She screamed punching both fists into the ground, creating a wave of fire. Azula split the fire, Lu rose an earthen wall as a shield and Zuko blocked for himself and Mai.

"I don't want to be, I am not ready!" Izumi cried. "It's not fair!"

"Life isn't fair. Your father and I know this only too well. You, on the other hand, have been spoiled! You think that because you are a princess, you get to do whatever you want. That you deserve peace. You deserve to be left alone when you want because you are unhappy. You don't deserve anything! You have to EARN such privileges and liberties!" Azula said to the girl.

"I gave my body away! And for what?"

"For your family to continue to reign. For peace and stability in the Fire Nation? For inspiration?" Azula suggested.

Izumi turned away. "Why can't mom and dad just put you back in prison?"

Azula walked over to the grumpy princess and bent down to whisper in her ear. "Because they, like you, know they can't get rid of me, because I am family." Azula stood up again. "I don't know how you can still be so upset. You should be celebrating, Zumzu! You are going to have a new baby! … And at least eight months without cock up your cunt."

Zuko gasped.

"Relax," Mai said to him.

"You use profanity and you were a princess. Why can't I?" Izumi grumbled holding her knees.

"Because I am no longer a princess and you still are so you must speak properly," Azula explained.

The next morning, Hisoki, Mai, and Zuko all sat at the breakfast table waiting for Izumi.

"She's late," Zuko grunted.

"She is not coming today," Mai informed her family.

Just then Iliana ran into the room. "My Lord! My Lady! Hisoki! The Princess is missing! Neither Kei-Lo nor I haven't been able to find her all morning! She is not in any of the usual places and has an appointment in an hour to see a healer about the baby! What should I do?"

"Have breakfast with us," Mai replied motioning to the empty chair.

Hisoki choked on his food.

"I b-beg your pardon?"

"She will be fine. I spoke with her this morning. She simply wanted to dress herself," Mai explained. Hisoki glanced at Zuko with concern. Mai, on the other hand, remained unfazed by their anxiety.

"Won't she be hungry? Or if not her then the baby? She can't skip breakfast! It is the most important meal of the day!" Iliana said in a panic.

"She has already raided the kitchens this morning. Don't worry," Mai said dabbing at her lips with the napkin in her lap.

The four dined in awkward silence, Mai offering Iliana the best of what was on the table like a mother would her child, but Izumi was missing.

Then, everyone saw out of their peripherals, a delicate, pale hand with manicured nails that were filed round and painted with a clear gloss, set a blade on the table.

"Thank you for letting me borrow it, Mother," Izumi said standing up again.

They looked up and saw Izumi dressed in her semi-formal robes, her hair, half its length from before, half tied up in a neat bun. In the bun, she wore her crown that she hadn't touched since the wedding.

"Princess, please! Have your seat back!" Iliana exclaimed jumping up quickly.

"I've no need. I raided the kitchens before I dressed this morning," Izumi replied. "But thank you for your kind offer," she added politely. "If you will carry on, I shall wait in the hallway. There are only two articles in the papers I've left to read. I've been trying to catch up on what has happened around the world since… since my retreat," Izumi said bowing, her long sleeves just touching the ground when she did before walking out of the room.

Hisoki coughed and Zuko's jaw dropped at the sight of the Princess. The new haircut made her neck look longer and her chin sharper, made her look taller. Her posture was perfectly rigid, just how tradition preferred it.

After everyone finished eating, they came out to find the princess exactly where she said she'd be, in the hallway, reading.

"Are you ready to see the healer?" Zuko asked.

"Yes, Father," Izumi replied, leading the way this time with a certain purposefulness in her long, brisk steps.

She undressed down to her chest bindings and underwear for the healer to inspect her body. The healer lifted a mass of warm, blue water and swirled it around her lower abdomen following the chi through her body, searching for any anomalies.

"Does it hurt?" Hisoki asked.

"Not at all," Izumi replied with her eyes closed and her fingers intertwined over her belly.

"Congratulations, My Lord, Mr. Hisoki. She is precisely five weeks along. The child will be born in summer, a good time with a higher chance of being a firebender," the healer said.

"That is wonderful news, Master Akira," Zuko said to the healer.

"I am glad," the healer turned to Izumi. "Princess?"

"Yes, Master Akira?" Izumi asked, sitting up.

"I must advise you against using your bending at all for the duration of the pregnancy. The electrical impulses and energy concentration required to produce fire blasts and lightning could overwhelm the embryo's developing system, and kill it," Master Healer Akira informed the princess.

Izumi listened and lowered her eyes, the other features of her face remaining unchanged. "Is there anything else I should keep in mind while he or she is growing?"

"Nothing that critical. We add provide the Palace Kitchen staff with a dietitian specializing in prenatal care to ensure you both get the nutrients you need, since we've heard, you have a tendency to skip meals when you're angry," Master Akira replied, glancing once at the Fire Lady Mai.

"Thank you, Healer Akira," Izumi said politely. "May I dress again?"

"Yes, thank you for your patience," Master Akira said, bowing to the princess.

They all watched Izumi pull on the exquisite robes shoulder pads and all and turn to face them again. "Father, may I speak with you privately?" Izumi asked.

"Of course," Zuko replied, not recognizing the poised young woman standing before him. Hisoki glanced at Mai who ignored him, more curious about what her daughter and husband would discuss.

"What is it?" Zuko asked Izumi in the hallway. The Princess turned, the skirts of her robes swirling around her tiny waist.

"I would like to join you," Izumi said up front. "I know my recent behavior has not been very- fit for even a princess, and I understand completely if you decline, but I think it is time I began shadowing you as a Fire Lord in training. I want to know what you do, and learn from you." Izumi looked up nervously, expecting hesitation or rejection. Almost hoping for the latter.

Instead, Zuko began crying and pulled her into his chest.

"Father, why are you crying?"

"It's just-you've grown up so much and in such a short amount of time!"

"I didn't really have a choice," Izumi replied with a perfectly steady voice, hiding all emotion. "And after all of my lessons, I have come to understand that such public displays of affection as this are no longer appropriate for people of our standing since they show weakness and vulnerability. Something our family must pretend to not have to stay influential in this backwards society."

"Izumi,"

"I've caught up on reading the papers; the people think we are both weak for loving others, having others that love us and while I fully intend on continuing to do all of those things, I know we cannot afford to let others see or else your influence on the nation will begin to wane." Izumi paused for a breath. "And I would like to do everything I can to keep our family in power since we seem like the only people in this country who don't want to use our influence to reconquer the world."

Zuko released his daughter and looked down at her. "That is very noble of you, Izumi. And I am so proud of you but so sorry for you at the same time. It was wrong of us to thrust so many huge responsibilities on your shoulders so suddenly, but you've managed to adjust so nicely and I could not be more grateful! I am be more glad to have you by my side as I rule the nation."

"Thank you, father," Izumi bowed. "So when can we begin?"

"The first session of the day will be at eleven in the throne room. You will sit by me on the throne-"

"Behind the fire?"

"Behind the fire."

"Very well."

"But first, I must warn you. This is a meeting with the council of generals. What we will be discussing is not something you can find in the papers."

Izumi nodded.

"Therefore, I must have some confidential information delivered to your office for you to skim through ahead of time."

Izumi bowed to him, and without even a hug goodbye, left for her office to await further instructions.


	11. Iroh

When Izumi wasn't by her father's side in the throne room, she was in the nursery, watching her son, Iroh, just existing. She could not get enough of seeing his tiny lungs breathing, his tiny heart beating, his tiny eyelids fluttering open or closed when he woke and fell asleep, and his tiny lips clasping around her nipple to eat. If she had her choice, she would have just stayed with her son all day and evening. Mai was right. When the baby was born, everything got better. Izumi stopped hating the world and even started talking to Hisoki again.

"He's not even mobile. Don't you get bored looking?" Hisoki asked his wife, stopping by their bedroom to get something.

"Never," Izumi replied laying beside her son watching him investigate his newly found toes with a smile upon her face.

"It's not like he'll run away when you're not looking," Hisoki said with a smile, coming over to join Izumi on the floor of their room where the baby lay..

"I don't worry he'll run away. I just like seeing his eyes and his brain consuming everything. Watch with me, see how he looks at those toes. See how he blinks—how he touches them so carefully as if they'll burn or freeze. He still doesn't realize they're attached to him. He thinks they're floating." Izumi said, biting her tongue pensively.

"How do you know what he thinks. It is not like he can say anything—," Hisoki asked skeptically.

"Just look at his eyes, you'll see," Izumi replied.

"Hey Iroh! How are you liking those toes?" Hisoki asked pinching one lightly and wiggling it. Iroh's eyes widened hilariously as he felt the sensation of being touched but didn't quite comprehend the connection between the sight and the feeling. Hisoki and Izumi both laughed at the boy's wonder.

"You're right. It is nice to look at him," Hisoki said dreamily.

Once Iroh recovered from his toe being squeezed, he pulled it towards his own mouth.

"Nope! Dirty!" Izumi said, freeing the toe before it could reach the baby's lips.

Iroh looked up his mother with curiosity more than anything, not at all understanding why he couldn't shove his own foot into his own face.

"Maybe he's hungry!" Hisoki suggested. Izumi rolled her eyes but remained smiling as she watched Hisoki interact with Iroh. "Is there a way to check even though he can't speak?"

"Yep, offer him a knuckle," Izumi replied.

"A knuckle?" Hisoki asked completely perplexed.

"Yes, a knuckle," Izumi said curling her finger and showing him a knuckle on her hand. "It looks like a nipple to him so if he takes it, he's hungry."

Hisoki trusted her and offered the baby a knuckle. Iroh reached for his hand and shoved the knuckle in his mouth.

"EW!" Hisoki rubbed the saliva on his robes.

Iroh, confused, started crying.

"You startled him!" Izumi scolded.

"I'm sorry, I'll make it better," Hisoki said finding his feet, picking Iroh up, and bouncing him slightly, and sure enough, Iroh stopped crying. "Aww, there we go, Iroh. Now, are you hungry? I'm sure Mama Zumi would be more than willing to assist you! I would help if I could, but-" Hisoki grabbed his own chest and shrugged. "Things don't always work out the way we want them to," he said touching Iroh's tiny nose.

Izumi laughed.

"Shall I leave you to it, or would you like me to stay?" Hisoki asked looking up at his wife.

"While I feed him?" Izumi asked furrowing her brows.

"Yes,"

"I don't mind it either way," Izumi shrugged. "But if you're busy you can go,"

"I like watching him and you together," Hisoki said handing off the baby, kissing Izumi's cheek and then the top of Iroh's head on her shoulder as she walked over to a large arm chair.

Izumi placed him on the chair while she untied the waistband of her long flowing robes and slid off one of the sleeves, exposing a swollen breast. Then she picked up Iroh again and took a seat, lifting him to her chest.

"Does it hurt when he sucks on your nipple like that?" Hisoki asked, pulling over the stool from the Princess's makeup table.

Izumi laughed. "Not really. It's kind of strangely pleasant and somewhat tingly actually. Master Akira says that will change once he starts growing teeth,"

"Eek. Why don't you use a wet nurse?"

"I'm not sure. I guess just because my mother didn't with me," Izumi replied, stroking her baby's little head just like her mother did with her. It was so calming.


	12. The Assassination Attempt

**Fire Fountain City 135AG**

The night was early. Izumi sat in her hotel room writing letters to her parents with her son in her lap, sleeping. Two imperial guards flanked her in her hotel room, two flanked the door outside, two were on the roof above her hotel room, and at least a dozen were on the ground covering all points of entry to the building.

They were on tour. Hisoki was representing Fire Lord Zuko and announcing several new decrees regarding industrialization, small business taxation, and education along with answering the questions of local city mayors and island governors. Izumi was tagging along and making public appearances at libraries, parks, orphanages, schools, and theatres. It was boring at times, but a nice break from the snake pit that was the Council of Ministers and Council of Generals in the Palace.

 _Dear Father,_

 _I am pleased to report that we have arrived safely in Fire Fountain City. Our reception was mostly positive. Only two people threw food from a crowd of an estimated ten thousand. I find it odd why some people in poverty think it reasonable to waste such a precious commodity by using it as a weapon against their governing body. It accomplishes nothing but waste…_

Izumi heard footsteps and subconsciously shifted Iroh from her lap into her left arm while still writing with her right. Hisoki never liked to find her with their baby in her lap unsupported. He was afraid Iroh would roll off and get hurt. Izumi on the other hand, knew that when her son slept, he didn't move. She could put him in his cradle, but preferred to keep him near; the warmth from his little life was comforting.

Just then, there was the sound of a scuffle outside the door and a body being thrown against it. Izumi's eyes shot up and her pen fell down, as she instinctively clutched her son to her chest. Both her guards bent into bending positions. There was the sound of a fight on the roof. One guard turned to the window in time to see one of the imperial guards falling.

"Princess, get under the desk!" the guard ordered. Izumi pushed the chair out and climbed under, holding her one year old son to her chest.

The sound of splintering wood filled the room as the door was kicked in. One guard ducked but the other was not so lucky. The slab of wood flew across the room with such a force that it decapitated the guard facing the window, taking its head with it into the night.

Izumi gagged at the sight and covered her son's eyes.

The remaining guard sent a fire blast, but that was not enough to hold the intruders back and he was stabbed with a spear.

Izumi covered her mouth.

"The imperial guard has officially fallen!" one man yelled.

"Finally!" another exclaimed with a sigh of relief, wiping his sword off on a leather belt.

"Is the Princess here?" a third asked.

"Checking now," the one with the spear said rounding the desk he tossed the spear aside and unsheathed two equally bloody dual swords. He pointed one under the desk, ready to spear whatever might be lurking under there.

The swordsman paused. "Did the master want her dead or alive?" the swordsman asked.

"Didn't matter to him," the tired one replied.

The swordsman pulled back to thrust the sword under the desk, but before he could push, an arrow came through the front of his chest, and he fell revealing an Archer in the window.

"Huh?" the tired one and the enthusiastic one gasped. The archer notched two more arrows and shot the two accomplices of the swordsman. The swordsman wore regular clothes and a face mask. The archer wore all black with an amber band around his left arm.

"We have the golden tangerine," the archer said into a radio. He turned to the window and whistled then jumped into the room through the window and walked towards Izumi.

Izumi's heart was beating out of her chest, yet somehow, Iroh still slept.

The archer turned his bow and arrow away and bent down. His face had a red tattoo around his eyes and on his forehead, the mark of the Yuyan Archers.

"Hey there, Princess. We need to get you to your husbands before the others make it up," the archer said. Wait! A female archer! The Pohuai Stronghold never accepted females into their school, let alone into their ranks! How did she get these tattoos?

"Others?"

"Assassins."

"Who do they fight for?"

"They're extremists that want to end Fire Lord Zuko's Legacy. They fight for the Phoenix Society, formerly called the New Ozai Society," the archer said, looking up at the door.

"And how do I know you're not just one of them trying to gain my trust?"

"You're a smart woman, Princess, but if I were one of them, I would have killed you already."

"Are you part of some secret force of my husband or father?"

"No."

"So who do you fight for?" Izumi asked.

"Like you, I fight for the Fire Nation. And it can't afford to lose its Princess. Now, we have to hurry!" The archer pulled Izumi out from under the desk and tore off her skirt, using it to tie Iroh to the Princess's chest. "You'll need to be able to climb onto the roof!" There was yelling in the hallway and the thundering of feet.

The archer whistled out the window and a cable came down, latching around Izumi's waist. It yanked her up into the air. She held onto Iroh and braces herself for a hard fall, but instead was caught by somebody.

"Are you alright?" the metalbender asked in a low hoarse voice.

"Yes," Izumi replied standing.

"And you still have your baby?"

Izumi touched his head. "Yes,"

"Good, let's go!" the archer said reappearing. She drew an arrow with a rope tied to it and shot it down at a building across the way and then tied it taught to a pole on the top of the building. The metalbender then fashioned a part of his cable into two handles.

"Princess, you come after me," the metalbender ordered jumping. Izumi grabbed on and the archer pushed her off the roof. They landed and looked up as the archer cut the rope.

"She's not going to make it!" Izumi said, looking up at the archer's silhouette in the moonlight as she took a spear, two swords and a dagger to the chest.

"She is not important. YOU ARE!" the metalbender said, grabbing Izumi's hand and dragging her through vacant streets and alleys until they reached the back of the convention center in the city, where two imperial guards stood flanking a door.

"You must go in alone. We cannot be seen," the metalender said, urging the princess forward towards the guards assigned to Hisoki.

"May I have your name so I could at least issue proper thanks when I return to the capital?" Izumi asked.

"No, Ma'am. It is forbidden," the earthbender replied.

"But that archer gave her life for me and my son. And you risked everything!"

"She gave her life to her country and her country needs its princess and prince," the earthbender said. "NOW GO!" with that, he buried himself underground.

Izumi turned and walked over to the imperial guards.

"Princess Izumi?"

"You're supposed to be at your hotel resting!"

"My guard at the hotel has been completely decimated in a blatant attempt on my life," Izumi replied.

The guards glanced at each other. "Come on," they said, linking arms behind her, leading her into the building to a secure room. Izumi refused to sit while she waited with Iroh still messily but securely tied to her body. She looked down at him and let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Izumi!" Hisoki exclaimed, embracing her and checking on the well-being of the baby. "You've blood on your face! Were you fighting too?" he asked.

Izumi touched her face. She didn't even notice.

"And your skirts!" he said noticing the outermost layer torn off completely.

"I'm fine; stop fussing. An archer and a metalbender came and saved me," Izumi said pushing his hand away.

"How? Who were they?"

"I don't know who they were. They wouldn't tell me. The archer made a zip line so we could escape off the roof of the hotel and then she cut the line and took four blades to the chest."

"And the metalbender?"

"Accompanied me here and told me to go in alone. Said he couldn't be seen,"

"Sounds like he's the assassin to me. He could have just wanted us together and placed a bomb,"

"Hisoki, he's not the assassin! The assassins trying to take my life were dressed in regular clothes and killed all of the imperial guard assigned to me. These two people wore all black with an amber armband,"

"That means nothing! It could have all been staged, Izumi. Anyone can put on a change of costume and say anything. I KNEW you shouldn't have come on this tour. You've endangered us all!" Hisoki yelled.

"How could you blame me for this? We are a part of the Royal Family! We are ALWAYS in danger!"

"You should have stayed back at the palace!"

"Maybe you should have stayed back on whatever TINY ISLAND you hailed from!" Izumi shot back. Hisoki stepped away and turned.

 _This is not good_ , Izumi thought. She looked down at Iroh and held him a little tighter.

The next morning at breakfast, a familiar face arrived.

"Kei Lo!" Izumi leapt up and hugged her mother's best friend and advisor.

"Hello Princess,' Kei-Lo chuckled, returning the hug and patting the princess on the back as if she were still just a little girl. "How are you feeling this morning?" he asked.

"A little shaken but otherwise fine. Devastated that the guards were killed but glad at least Iroh is alive, and Hisoki is… well…as Hisoki always is."

"Hello sir," Hisoki said, waving.

"Hello, Hisoki. Izumi, if you don't mind me asking, and if you're ready to speak, your mother would like to know the full details of whatever you witnessed last night. The captain of the imperial guard back at the capital doesn't believe that all of his best men could be slain by just a couple of assassins-"

"It wasn't just two against the imperial guard. At least five made it onto the roof by the time I escaped with the metalbender. A spear, two swords, and a dagger pierced the chest of the archer, and the fifth person just stood back watching. There were certainly others in the building fighting. I could hear them from outside even if I couldn't see them with my own eyes."

"What were they wearing?"

"Just regular clothes. The archer and the metalbender wore all black with an amber collar on their left sleeves, though," Izumi recalled.

"Amber, you say? Yes, that should be enough." Kei Lo thought aloud.

"Yes, is there something special about amber?" Izumi inquired.

"Not particularly. It is just not typically a color you would use to describe a matte fabric. Most people would say orange. But the fact that you recognized amber… never mind. I am probably only confusing you. I should report back to your mother, and YOU," Izumi raised a brow. "You need to finish breakfast, feed Iroh, and not forget about the orphanage visitation at eleven and then the firebending school visitation at five in the afternoon."

"I won't forget," Izumi reassured Kei-Lo.

"I know you won't." He said, kissing the top of her head as he passed. "As soon as I finish the report to your mother, I shall return to your side and guard you until the new escort arrives."

"But what about my mother? Doesn't she need you back at the capital?"

"Your mother is more concerned with your survival than my advising. She can handle a few days on her own," Kei-Lo replied with a warm smile.

Kei-Lo always was so kind and for that, Izumi was grateful.

* * *

 **In some Nondescript building**

"Your report?"

"The Golden Tangerine has been secured,"

"And what is the status on Emerald?"

"In the hospital with two fractured ribs after the hostage exchange went awry,"

"And the Jade?"

"Recently passed her metalbending exam, and is an excellent dancer, I must confess."

The Master smiled. "Thank you, for your sacrifice, risk and time, protecting the peace and balance of this world."


	13. Raising Hate, Part 1: The Spare

**The Spare**

Upon returning to the Fire Nation, the Fire Sages demanded the royal couple begin trying for a second child. If anything were to happen to Izumi or Iroh, they needed another successor for the throne.

"Classic. An heir and a spare," Izumi muttered sitting on the edge of her bed.

"You could just defy them. Your mother only had you-"

"Shut up," Izumi growled.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard correctly. Shut up!" Izumi yelled turning to Hisoki. "You have NO IDEA what my mother had to go through-what she had to lose just so that I could breathe my first breath of air!"

Hisoki looked down silently and continued folding back his sheet.

"You're not going to say anything?" Izumi asked, hurt.

"You told me to shut up," Hisoki replied plainly. Izumi turned over and fell on top of the covers and grabbed her pillow, covering her head with it and screaming.

* * *

"I am starting to think Hisoki is not the man he used to be," Izumi said to her mother while gazing at some distant point on the horizon outside of the tea room.

"I have been thinking he never was the man we knew him as those two years of courting," Mai responded guilt ridden.

"After this spare is born, I want him gone, Mother."

"But your reputation-"

"How can we encourage the people of our nation to spread love and peace throughout the world, if we subject ourselves to misery trying to comply with outdated and unnecessary traditions? The people will understand!"

"I'm not sure they would, unfortunately," Mai replied.

* * *

The labor was longer than with Iroh, more grueling, and as soon as the baby was crowning, they knew something was wrong.

"Oh no-" Master Akira said reaching her hand into Izumi to assist the rotation of the infant.

"WHY ARE YOU SAYING 'OH NO'? WHAT'S WRONG?!" Izumi shrieked sitting up before throwing her head back as Hisoki and Zuko held her hands down.

Akira looked to Mai who nodded and put a hand behind Izumi's neck.

"You can't put her out! The Baby is still-"

"You! Hold her head still!" Mai yelled, REALLY yelled at one of the healer's apprentices.

The apprentice nodded and held down Izumi's head.

"MOTHER, WH-" Izumi screamed before she went still. The baby was out.

"The baby didn't make it," Master Akira said, unwrapping the umbilical cord from the fetus's neck. Zuko fell into his chair by his daughter's bed, devastated. Mai touched her daughter's head, checking that the technique still worked. Her daughter breathed, her heart still beat, but she was otherwise out cold.

"Why did you do that?" Hisoki asked Mai, also sitting, across from Zuko, looking at Izumi's unconscious form.

"Because I didn't want her to see," Mai said, looking at the lifeless form in Master Akira's hands. "I didn't want her to see what she almost became when she came out of me! I have caused my daughter too much pain already. I could spare her from seeing this, at least," Mai said.

"How shall we proceed, Hisoki?" Akira asked.

"With what?" Hisoki asked.

"Shall we hold a funeral for the child or have her cremated?"

"Cremated, and nobody will ever hear about this- this failure!" Hisoki spat with a certain acidity in his tone, looking at Izumi as he answered. Mai frowned. Zuko shifted in his seat uneasily. After a moment in thought, Mai reached over the birthing table, grabbed Hisoki by the collar with one hand and swung the other as hard as she could across his face.

"See the child is gone before she wakes," Mai ordered the healer as Hisoki rubbed his jaw.

"Yes, my Lady!" the healer said rushing away.

Zuko lowered his arm so Mai could get closer to her unconscious daughter. A tear fell from her eye as she looked down at her baby and placed a hand on her cheek.

"Hisoki?" Izumi asked as her eyes fluttered open.

Hisoki said nothing as he stared down at her.

"I'm sorry," Izumi whimpered. By her mother's reaction, she knew. "The baby didn't make it, did she?"

"You're not," Hisoki said.

"Excuse me?" Mai asked, her own anger flaring

"You could have prevented this! All of it! You should have stayed home, in bed! A woman's place is not with her husband traveling, overexerting herself daily at the expense of her own baby!"

"You're insane, Hisoki!" Izumi yelled.

"How DARE you accuse her of such a thing!" Zuko yelled getting to his feet.

"I AM THE PRINCESS OF THIS NATION! I cannot simply remained locked away in this spirit-damned palace reproducing like a broodmare. Her death was nobody's fault! Her spirit simply just wasn't ready to join us in this world, and probably for good reason!" Izumi yelled at Hisoki.

Hisoki stared at her, eyes filled with hate, fury, and grief. "I'm leaving," he announced exiting the ward quickly.

"And where do you think you're going?" Mai yelled.

"Somewhere where I'm worth more than the seed I provide to make heirs!" Hisoki replied.

"Hisoki!" Izumi threw off her blankets and launched herself out of bed, but missed the ground with her feet, falling on one foot and one hand and knee.

"ZUMI-" Zuko yelled, dropping by her side, scooping her up, and placing her back in bed as she clutched her battered body. "You can't go anywhere! Your pelvic bone is still detached and your hips are open! You must stay until everything is back in its place!"

Izumi was panting from the overwhelming pain that coursed through her body from pushing.

"Guards! Don't let him leave the palace!" Mai yelled. He glanced at his wife, silently passing off care of Izumi to her before bolting out the door after Hisoki.

"Mother, Iroh!"

"Kei Lo is bringing him!" Mai said. "And just in time!" Kei Lo entered through a side door and placed the two year old on the bed next to Izumi. Iroh automatically curled up under her arm for safety.

Just then was an explosion of white fire in the hallway. Izumi raised an open palm and blocked the incoming debris with a wall of blue fire as Mai and Kei-Lo, both non-benders leaned closer to her. Her arm fell, exhausted from labor and lack of sleep.

Zuko ran back in coughing. "Hisoki's gone."


	14. Raising Hate, Part 2: The Search

**The Search**

As soon as Izumi was well enough, she insisted upon joining the search effort for Hisoki.

"Absolutely not!" Zuko had told her when he heard wind of her plan to leave.

"And why not?" Izumi asked defiantly. There was a glint of determination in her golden-tangerine colored eyes. Zuko knew at that moment she couldn't be stopped, but he thought he would try to anyways to change her mind.

"It is not safe for a woman to travel without an escort."

"Then send the escort. I'll lose them quickly,"

"It is not safe for a princess to travel–"

"I'll leave the crown at home. I'll hide my bending. No one will know who I am."

"It is not that easy to hide your identity,"

"You managed even with your scar, for years," she reminded him sharply.

"Izumi, what about Iroh!"

"He is young. He has Mother. She already approved my travel plans."

"She approved— Seriously, Izumi, what is with you two conspiring behind my back!

"Look, as long as Hisoki is out there, and I am legally bound to him, I cannot rest. We cannot encourage our rapidly progressing nation to seek out and spread peace and happiness if we subject ourselves to pain simply to appease the few radicals who may start another pro-Ozai uprising. I don't care about my reputation anymore. I need to find Hisoki, and I need to end him. To be able to establish and maintain peace in my nation, I must first find peace in myself," Izumi explained.

Zuko looked down at her from his throne. Everything she said made perfect sense. The Fire Lord will never be able to please the entire population, but they had to focus on the majority. The wellbeing of the whole organism and not just a small part about it, and if Izumi broke like Azula, there would be no saving the Fire Nation.

"Izumi, you are my only daughter,"

"I know."

"I love you."

"You don't always act like it," Izumi muttered under her breath.

"And I will let you go alone," Zuko said pretending he didn't hear her, hiding how much her words hurt. "But only because I trust you, and understand that this is a journey you need to take, but you must promise me one thing,"

Izumi looked up at him again.

"When you do face Hisoki again, don't choose revenge. Don't kill him for playing our family. Let out your anger, and then let it go. Forgive him."

"HOW CAN I FORGIVE HIM? HE BLAMED ME FOR KILLING OUR BABY! HE LIED TO US ALL JUST TO GET INTO THE PALACE AND GET HIS NAME KNOWN ALL OVER THE WORLD!"

"And what has he done with that? Nothing! He hasn't gone to the papers yet, he hasn't slandered our name, he hasn't raised an army–"

"You don't know that!"

"He wasn't kind, I know, and I am sorry for not noticing sooner and stopping it. I am sorry for failing as a father to protect you. But at the same time, you cannot put full blame on him for his behavior either. You were both just following orders," Zuko reminded her. "Be merciful, Izumi. You will be the first Fire Lord with the chance to ascend to the throne with a completely clean name with all four nations. Don't dirty your hands with the blood of your enemies until absolutely necessary, IN DEFENSE. Don't make the same mistakes as your ancestors. And don't make the same mistakes as me."

"Yes, Father," Izumi said waiting a moment. "If that is all, may I go pack?"

"Yes."

* * *

Izumi went to pack. She had her son rolling around on the bed with a few toy soldiers, and a few dolls. He had tied one doll to the bedpost and was planning a rescue with the toy soldiers. In the village between the pillows where the remaining dolls were sitting.

"Whoever taught you that?" she asked Iroh, thinking of the unknown female archer who gave her life to keep the two of them safe. Iroh wasn't listening, too caught up in his imaginary scenario.

"May I come in?" Mai's voice asked from the doorway.

"Of course," Izumi said. Her hair was down, just past her shoulders, her face flawless. She wore peasant clothes with nice wide sleeves and a long skirt. On her bed she had a pair of dual swords, and an array of knives.

"What do you think you'll be taking?" Mai asked coming to stand next to her daughter.

"I'm seriously considering taking neither."

"Why?"

"They're identifiers," Izumi replied. "The sword is made of the highest grade titanium plated steel that only our family can afford to mine and forge in the first place, and the knives have our crest carved into it."

"You're wise to want to hide your identity," Mai said. "But at the same time, you must accept who you are, Izumi. You are my daughter, and the daughter of Fire Lord Zuko. You are the Princess of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne…and ordinarily, I would ask you to conduct yourself accordingly when you leave, but there comes a time when rules and traditions only hinder one from doing the _right thing_."

Izumi looked up at her mother.

Mai reached onto the bed and picked up a set of throwing knives.

"Don't worry about the crest, and don't forget about chi-blocking. This is not a slight to your father, but his sword is a bit harder to conceal," Mai said placing the knives in Izumi's hand.

Izumi slid the sleeve up her right arm and the other up her left and hugged her mother.

"One more thing," Mai said, pulling a stack of papers out of her robes.

"I sent scouts out during your recovery. This is all we could find. But as of now, nobody outside the family and our immediate staff know Hisoki is missing. I am sure you'd like to keep it that way as well, so burn these before you get onto the ship to the Earth Kingdom."

"Thank you, Mother."

Izumi turned to Iroh who looked at her curiously, not recognizing her in such casual wear with black fingerless gloves and no bun.

"That's good. If your own son doesn't recognize you, then neither should people on the other side of the world," Mai said.

Izumi laughed and picked up her son anyways. Iroh touched her face and leaned his head on her chest.

"I may not love your father, but I will always love you to the world and back, Iroh. Try to understand. I will come back for you, I promise, but in the meantime, be good to Gran Gran. She may not seem like she is capable of feeling, but she loves you too more than you could ever imagine," Izumi said to her baby. He said nothing and continued playing with a lock of her hair.

She held him a little while longer, then handed him to her mother and left.

* * *

Izumi read the leads in the carriage ride to the docks of the Fire Nation Capital. All of her practice reading in preparation for war meetings, grand assemblies, and conferences with the ministers of finance and industry made Izumi well skilled at memorizing facts quickly and with great detail. After the hour carriage ride, she climbed out with the stack of papers in her head and all of the leads in her head organized by which she wanted to pursue first. As soon as Izumi let go of the carriage and stepped her second foot onto the cobblestone, her left hand burst into red flames engulfing the papers letting the ashes be scattered by the wind.

"Do you have everything you need, Miss?" the carriage driver asked.

"Yes, thank you," Izumi replied heading to the docks to buy passage to the United Republic.

* * *

She spoke to her mother's spies in Republic City, then Omashu, then Ba Sing Se. She traveled through the Serpent's Pass, flying over the part where the path went underwater, wondering if her father had ever walked these trails across the world. She got an eel-hound in a merchant village and rode it from the Serpent's Pass to Chin village, wondering what it would be like to have a pet dragon and fly. She traveled along the coast talking to locals, showing them a picture of Hisoki in normal clothes, hiding her face as often as possible, and coming to realize just how many people in the Earth Kingdom had green eyes. Everyone in the Fire Nation had varying shades of brown, gold, and orange colored eyes.

She even found the legendary bounty hunter named June who had a pet Shirshu that could track anybody all over the world. She followed the bounty hunter to a rocky region near the Great Divide.

"Nyla is getting twitchy so he shouldn't be far. She thinks he's probably underground. Do you happen to be an earthbender?" June asked sliding off her Shirshu.

"No, but hold your animal still, and cover her ears," Izumi said sliding off her eel-hound, wrapping the reins several times around her arm. She pointed two fingers at the ground in front of them and blasted it with blue lightning cracking the ground until it completely caved in revealing a supply room of sorts. The animals reared.

"Loot it, I don't care, I'll pay your weight in gold if you find him," Izumi said as she slid down the pile of rubble into the supply room..

"Why are you so hellbent on going after this guy anyways?" June asked, following her after tying Nyla to a tree.

"He hurt my family, and he hurt me in a way that can't be forgiven," Izumi replied subconsciously placing her left hand on her lower abdomen. "And I want to kill him."

June looked curiously at this young woman. She was so young, yet showed so much anger and pain in her narrow eyes. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-three," Izumi replied.

"Have you ever even killed a man before?" June asked, appalled. How could a girl so young already be out for blood? How could anyone have hurt her so badly? Death, killing and its finality were clearly beyond this _child's_ comprehension. She should be somewhere basking in the sun, relaxing under the protection of her parents or at the very least, some friends. She should be enjoying her youth.

"Does it matter? There's a first time for everything, right?" Izumi replied turning into a dark hall, igniting a small red flame for light.

"Yes, but–" June grabbed Izumi's shoulder. Izumi flashed the flame in the bounty hunter's face as a warning not to touch her, but the bounty hunter evaded it, looping her wrist around Izumi's and forced her to the ground with both hands behind her back, twisting her shoulders. "You're too young for murder, kid." June said to Izumi, making sure to keep the girl's wrists over her shoulder so she couldn't firebend in the non-bending bounty hunter's face.

"You don't know me!" Izumi growled with frustration, feeling her breath hitch in her throat and tears bead in the corners of her eyes.

"You're right, I don't know you. But I know you were born after the war. You were spared so much devastation. You should count yourself lucky and not be like my generation."

"You're just a sellsword, not an imperial advisor so unhand me!" Izumi yelled angrily.

"Spoken like an entitled little prince I once knew, _Princess_ Izumi," June said letting go.

Izumi remained on her knees, massaged her wrists and stretched her shoulders then lit a flame again. Great. The bounty hunter knew her name only because she reminded the woman of her place. She looked up and saw a door at the end of the hallway with light shining through the crack at the bottom.

"Must be deaf to not hear your little lightning," June commented as they walked towards the door.

Izumi kicked it down and a young boy stood up. Izumi threw four knives pinning the boy to the wall behind him.

"THERE'S MONEY IN THE SUPPLY ROOM!" the boy cried. It was a radio room. Izumi looked around and switched every receiver and transmitter off then turned her attention to the boy. She placed a hand on his chest and paralyzed his body from the neck down long enough to remove the knives from the wall and replaced them in her sleeve.

"Please!"

"We're not interested in money. We need information. Hisoki Ibonara. WHERE IS HE?!"

"Hisoki?" the boy asked.

Izumi raised him higher by his collar.

"There's a Hisoki in the team of handlers. I don't know his last name. I just heard he was going to make a delivery somewhere in the Southern Earth Kingdom. Needed train tickets for the National Rail's Omashu to Gaoling line for some reason. But I don't know what stop he will get off at!" the boy cried.

"Its something," June shrugged.

"Or he's lying to get us to leave," Izumi replied.

"And how do you intend on finding out?"

Izumi let go of the boy, releasing the block on the synapses in his nervous system. Just as he moved his wrist, she zapped him with dispersed lightning, the type that didn't leave scars anywhere on the body.

"Tell me where Hisoki is!"

He told the exact same information.

"Okay," she accepted it the second time. She was going to leave before she remembered the radios. She grabbed the boy and shoved him out of the door, then torched the entire room, melting the equipment completely then closing the door. The boy shrieked.

"So you can't warn the south that I am coming," Izumi replied.

* * *

In Gaoling, she met another one of her mother's spies who were sending back reports on Izumi's wellbeing to the capital. She refilled her gold, silver, and copper supply, and sharpened her knives and decided to rest her feet for a week while the spies went searching through the region and city.

"Have you given up yet?" Kei-Lo asked, arriving in the city on the second day to speak to the Princess and make sure she was okay.

"Do you know me to give up so easily?" Izumi replied with her fingers linked, and her hands draped over her stomach as she lay on a couch in the luxurious Beifong Estate, courtesy of some family friends.

"I've known you to complain, occasionally," Kei-Lo replied.

Izumi smiled for a moment. "I will find him," Izumi informed Kei Lo before closing her eyes. "And there's one place I haven't yet looked."

"I won't let you go into the Si Wong Desert," Kei-Lo said adamantly.

"And why not?"

"It is not safe! There are bandits, thieves, sandbenders–"

"The perfect hiding place then. He'll know my parents and advisors are against it," Izumi replied sighing, wanting nothing more than to sleep before journeying into the desert.

"Princess, please, don't do this," Kei-Lo begged.

Izumi stood up with a heavy sigh and looked up at her mother's best-friend and advisor.

"The only way to stop me from going, is physically, Kei-Lo. I'm sorry," she said walking past him to go to a private room and shut everyone out for the rest of the evening.

* * *

Five days later, Izumi set out for the desert. She sold her eel-hound in a merchant town about halfway there. The beast wasn't bred to endure extreme heat, and Izumi knew it would be hard enough to just keep herself hydrated and fed. She changed into sandbender clothes in an alleyway in the merchant town to try to hide her extremely pale skin that blatantly gave away her status as at least Fire Nation Nobility, then hitched a ride with a merchant on his way to the Misty Palms Oasis.

"A word of advice, Girl," the merchant said to Izumi just before they arrived.

Izumi looked up at him curiously. After an eight hour ride in silence, he only now spoke?

"Keep your eyes down out here," he said. "The color gives you away, _Golden-Tangerine_ ," the merchant said, cracking the reins of the two ostrich horses that pulled his cart.

"Thank you," Izumi said pulling her mask a little higher on her nose and her hood a little lower on her forehead until they covered her brow.

She looked at the ground as she approached the pub her father spoke about in all of his stories of exile. She thought on his life and his journey. How much struggle, how he had to fight. And she had everything. She paused to glance at the bulletin where a couple of wanted posters and advertisements for various services were hung, imagining her father and great uncle's face among them.

She was tempted to tack up Hisoki's photo up there. _Wanted dead or alive,_ she thought she might add at the top of the photo, _to be taken back to the Fire Nation,_ supervised, and kept hushed. She turned away from the bulletin and entered the pub.

She was already starting to feel fatigued from the heat as she approached the bar for a drink.

"Watermelon and peach, please. And spike it," Izumi told the bartender, slamming two coppers on the counter before turning away.

"What percentage?" the bartender asked suspiciously, not used to hearing please, or the slight hesitation before the request to spike the fruity drink.

"Twelve," Izumi replied.

The bartender hesitated. Izumi could hear his breathing, feel his gaze on the back of her covered head.

Foreigner. They both knew the other knew as he slid over the drink. Izumi pulled down the mask just enough to be able to smell the drink clearly before lifting the mask up again. Part of her training back at the palace included smelling for common poisons before eating or drinking. One of her exams when she was thirteen years old included determining the percent cactus juice in a drink. The substance was a dangerous hallucinogen that made one characterize inanimate objects, become delirious and then fatigued. Izumi knew her tolerance. She and Saru discovered each other's when they were fifteen during one of their kitchen raids. Hers was twelve percent to dull the pain yet retain her sanity. His was seventeen. And by the smell of this, Izumi could tell the bartender thought he might try to get lucky.

Izumi turned and chucked the glass at his head head as he ducked.

"I SAID TWELVE PERCENT NOT SIXTY!" she yelled as the ice cup shattered against the opposite wall, the drink spraying over everything.

Everyone in the bar turned to see, but Izumi was no longer facing their direction on her stool. She placed her head down on the counter, tired, and wanting to hide the color of her eyes.

The bartender frowned, but made her a new drink nonetheless. She smelled it and took a sip, tipping him a copper. He's just a man. Such simple creatures indeed, she thought as she tasted the sweet watermelon and peach.

"Hey stranger," a man said sitting next to her at the bar. "You're not from around here are ya?"

"No," Izumi replied with both elbows on the counter, looking down at her ice cup, finding it difficult to slouch after decades of being indoctrinated to sit up straight with her spine curved at a certain radius and her chin tilted at a certain angle, always.

"What what brings ya out here in disguise?" the man asked.

"Trying to find a man," Izumi replied sliding over the photograph, and looking away so he wouldn't see her eyes.

"That guy? Came in with a couple o' bandits a few days ago. Kidnapped some kids and left," the man said sliding the picture back.

Izumi's eyes narrowed. Hisoki was worse than they thought. Kidnapping kids? She worried for the first time then about Iroh. _Please mother_ , she begged. _Don't let him out of your sight_.

"Which direction?!" Izumi asked.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked clicking his tongue.

Izumi frowned under her mask. "I want to kill him." Well, that is what she told June at least. Might as well be consistent with her reasoning.

"If you really wanted to kill him, you wouldn't go around the world tellin' people that. They might lock you up."

"He took something from me," Izumi said.

The man looked down noticing her hand move to her lower abdomen.

"Your kid or your cunt?" the man asked.

She turned to him, appalled he would have the audacity to say such a thing. Then she cursed herself for making eye contact with the man and looked down at the cup again for a second before chugging the thing and smashing the ice on the table top. Izumi sighed in frustration, regretting chugging the drink so quickly.

"I guess you could say both," she replied.

"He went into the desert towards Ba Sing Se. My guess is he's going to sell the kids to the Earth Queen's Dai Li. There's a trading village about half ways there from where we are now. I can take you on my sand sailer if you'd like. I've finished my last delivery for the week and have a few days," the man offered.

"Sure," Izumi replied. The bartender looked at the man with jealousy.

 _If he is lying to me and also wants just to fuck, I'll kill him too_ , thought Izumi as she followed him out of the bar. Gosh if her father saw how she was acting, thinking, he would be so…. Angry.

But Izumi didn't care. She didn't care about anything but finding Hisoki. She lifted the mask higher and pulled the hood lower hiding as much of her face as she could.

* * *

 _The sand sailer seemed like a fast method of travel_ , Izumi thought as she held onto its frame, but she knew it would be still a few days to cross the desert to Ba Sing Se. "Do you think he's already in the City?" Izumi asked the sandbender.

"Nah. Most of the trade is done where we're going. Customs is too nitpicky 'round the capital."

Izumi didn't reply. She was too filled with hate to respond. She hated the Fire Sages for putting up an ad for her hand in marriage without her consent. She hated Hisoki for responding to that ad. She hated him for playing her family. She hated him for leaving, and now she also hated him for participating in child trafficking. Just when she thought she couldn't hate any more, she realized that she also hated the Dai Li from all of her father's stories, and now she was beginning to hate the new Earth Queen Hou-Ting for reestablishing that horrible secret police and growing it out of kidnapped children that Hisoki was helping to collect!

"You alright back there, lady?" the sandbender asked turning back to Izumi. She looked up.

"LOOK OUT!" she screamed pointing ahead. A giant sand serpent leapt out of the dunes nearly destroying the sand sailer. It veered to the side and around as Izumi held onto the ropes.

"Still there?" the sand bender asked.

"Yeah," Izumi replied examining rope burn on her fingers.

"Yeh must have soft hands. And those ropes are old," he commented.

Izumi shrugged off the comment. Of course everyone out here would be so callous, but she was raised in a palace. She unwrapped the strip of fabric on her forearms and rewrapped it to cover the wounds and stop the bleeding.

"You don't talk much, do you, lady?"

"I used to. Just not recently," Izumi replied looking away.

The Trading village was putting it mildly; it was actually a full on city in the middle of the desert. _How was it not on any map in the Fire Nation?_ Izumi thought. Hopefully they would stay until night so she could map their location based on the constellations and add it to the map when she got back to the Palace.

There was a metal hub, a wooden hub, a crystal hub, a food hub, and a human hub, much to Izumi's disgust. "How can the Earth Queen let something like this exist?" Izumi asked aloud as she walked past laborers being sold in chains. There were stalls that sold smiths, miners, farmers, craftsmen, seamstresses, then finally women and children.

"This way," the sandbender said taking Izumi's hand. She reached into the folds in her robes for a knife, just in case.

They walked past the inspection lines and the bidding area to the offices in the back of this horrible establishment. Izumi took a deep breath to keep herself from killing the masters right there. But this was not her kingdom. If she were caught and delivered to the Earth Queen for disrupting one of her profitable trades, it could be disastrous for the entirety of the Fire Nation. She made a mental note to at least mention it to her father, and maybe even the White Lotus and her friends in Republic City.

The sandbender reached a door. He knocked. "Wait here," he said going in. Moments later, he emerged with one of the Masters of the establishment.

"This way," they said leading her a few doors down. "He's making a delivery but will be back in a few minutes. If you could just wait in here," they said opening the door. Izumi peeked in. the room was completely barren, with stone floors. Her split second inspection gave them just enough time to kick her into the room and slam the door, locking it.

"You BASTARDS!" she screamed slamming her fists onto the door.

"Nice catch. I could tell by her eyes, she's young and pretty. Will fetch a healthy price, I already have a buyer in mind," the man said outside the door..

"How much will you pay me for her?"

"Pay you? Your mistake was bringing her here unannounced. She's mine now." the man said knocking on the iron door.

"I belong to NO ONE!" Izumi yelled banging her fists on the door again.

They laughed at her.

Izumi paced, then she remembered. She could melt the door possibly, but she didn't want to hurt the people being bidded for. Maybe death would be a mercy. But no, not by torching, Izumi thought. What fire could she control?

She stood in the center of the room. Sphere. She put her fists together and concentrated, then dropped kicking up onto her hands spinning on her hands, firebending a ball with her feet.

"Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?" the merchant asked.

The sandbender shrugged. Izumi stopped building and stood on her feet again and turned out her hands. She heated the red sphere with her hands to be blue, and expanded it, breaking down all the walls, melting the door, and collapsing part of the floor above before fleeing out the back of the building. She ran to the edge of town and kept running into the desert. After she scaled the first mountainous dune, she used her feet as rocket thrusters to launch herself over the next and the next and the next. For three hours, she ran, getting as far from the town as possible before collapsing on her chest. She pulled out her canteen and drank a little, capped it and fell asleep.

When Izumi woke, it was night and she was half buried in sand. Maybe it was a sign she should just stay and die. No. She had a son waiting for her back home. A son, a father, a mother, and a nation. She had to keep going. She unburied herself and walked, in less of a hurry than before, to get away from the child traffickers. She had made enough smoke to distract them from whichever direction she was running, so if they searched, they shouldn't be able to find her. She was safe for a little while, at least. She looked up at the sky, at the stars, trying to remember all of the astronomy and navigation classes she had as a child.

She decided to head East, to Ba Sing Se. There she could either continue the search for Hisoki, or head to the Fire Nation Embassy, and go home.

After a day, she regretted not stealing food before fleeing that awful merchant city. After another, she was running out of water. On the third, she was near collapsing. She looked up at the stars. Four days, she thought recognizing the constellations. Four days left on foot. Maybe eight at this rate.

She drank the last of her water then pulled up her scarf and pulled down her hood again. She wanted to cry over her foolishness and naivety. She hated herself for trusting Hisoki and that random guy in the bar at the Misty Palms Oasis. She almost got herself sold into Earth Kingdom Slavery. She stupidly fled into the desert on foot without anything to eat. If she couldn't even plan this journey as it happened, how could she ever hope to rule her country responsibly. She squeezed her eyes shut and curled her fingers into the sand. No, she couldn't cry. She would lose precious water if she did, water she couldn't afford to lose.

Her sadness turned to anger, and her anger turned to pain as she fell to her hands and knees, choking back sobs.

When she first met Hisoki, he was a polite young man. He knew politics. He was a good talker and could engage in intellectual conversations with her parents and her before she fell apart. Then they were married. He became dull. Plain. All he focused on was getting her pregnant, and bettering his own name. She realized, he never cared about her in the first place. All he wanted, or all his mother wanted, probably, was the fame of being married to the Princess.

 _Hisoki- I should have known. Even your name means "secretive". No amount of observation or interrogation could have prepared us for this betrayal._

"Hisoki, WHERE ARE YOU?!" she screamed throwing her head back, feeling the sand melt below her hands and feet. She roared like a dragon then bowed her head and took a deep breath. She felt fire building up inside her body. It was a fire she didn't recognize but she didn't care. She watched the veins start to show through the skin on her hands and fingers. She felt her entire body tense, and her vision become blurry. It was just fire. She wouldn't feel anything, she thought as she closed her eyes and let the flames consume her completely.


	15. Finding Peace, Part 1: The Desert Lady

There were about eight sand sailers traveling.

"Why don't we stop here for a food break, Orel!" the captain yelled at one of the sandbenders powering one of the other sailers.

"Hear that, Nala?" Orel yelled at the child on the back of his sailer.

"Yep! On it, Daddy!" Nala yelled leaping off of the sailer as it came to a stop. She spread her legs and bent an area of sand into a hard stone surface, then started unpacking some pots and pans.

They were about half way through their meal when they heard a fire cackling, much louder than their own. They turned and over the dunes rose a figure. It was a massive blue, flaming, figure heavily resembling a woman.

"The fire spirits must be angry with us!" an older man yelled jumping up.

"But we've done nothing wrong!" Nala yelled. "We're just sandbenders, not sand bandits!"

"Nala! Back down!" Orel barked yanking his daughter back by the hand.

"No, I want to go see the spirit!" Nala yelled bending skis onto her feet, sailing up the sand dunes. Her father went after her.

"Nala it could be dangerous!" Orel yelled running after her.

"But I haven't seen anything but sand and you guys for WEEKS!" Nala replied going faster than her old, tired father.

The blue figure was still growing. Nala stopped skiing up the dunes and watched it in awe. They could feel the heat radiating from its body.

"By jolly, the Great Wall of Ba Sing Se would only come up to its knee," Orel gasped.

"I don't know, but if it's angry, I don't want to be in its path!" another sandbender yelled.

"I second that!" a third added jumping on his sandsailer. The others fled while Nala and Orel watched the figure reach its full height and turn. It was definitely a woman.

"Daddy, she's crying!" Nala said looking up at the figure's face. It was a rather beautiful face for something on fire. It's brows sloped downward a away from the nose. It's eyes were almost completely closed, it's mouth slightly open, and it was sniffling. Its entire flaming chest rising and falling with each hiccup. And its arms crossed. Not crossed.

"It's holding a sandbender! ONE OF US!" Nala gasped seeing brown through some of the flares as they flickered from the figure's forearms high in the sky. "We have to help!" Nala yelled skiing down the other side of the dune.

"NALA! Look out!" Orel said grabbing his daughter as a massive fire ball came crashing down into the dunes, splashing them with a wave of sand.

"Tears!" Nala said looking up at the flaming figure, its foot alone larger than their entire village as it walked across the dunes. Nala and Orel raced to get in front of it before it reached their team's temporary camp.

"Please great spirit! Don't be sad! How can we help you?!" Nala yelled up at the spirit.

"It won't be able to hear you through all that cackling!" Orel yelled over the flames.

Just then the blue figure stopped walking. It took two paces backwards and looked down at Nala and Orel. Its features softened, but the sadness remained. The figure bent down on one knee and lowered its hands, placing the sandbender at their feet. "Help me," it said in a thundering yet melodic voice, before vanishing completely with a wave of heat.

Nala and Orel looked down at the closed eyes.

Orel bent down and pulled down the mask. It was a woman!

"Daddy, why didn't she burn in the arms of the thing?" Nala asked.

Orel pulled off the woman's hood. Her hair was blue, and still glowing. "Because she IS the fire," Orel gasped. The woman whimpered then fell still again. Orel reached for her canteen, but it was empty. "NALA! GET HER WATER!" Orel ordered his daughter. The girl sprinted.

"Please come back to us, Miss. At least to drink," Orel begged holding the canteen to her lips. Her eyes fluttered only slightly. He poured water into her mouth and heard her swallow before falling limp again.

"We need to get her back to the village! She needs healing!" Orel yelled. The Father and Daughter packed up their things, put out their bonfire and left on their sandsailer.

"Stay with us, okay, Desert Lady," Orel said putting up the woman's hood again, hiding her mysteriously blue hair while Nala bent the sand to propel them through the desert night air.

* * *

In the village pub, men were laughing.

"Can you believe Orel and his kid?" one sandbender asked, laughing.

"What were they thinking, going after that thing?" a second added.

"Probably got 'emselves burnt to a crisp!" a third one suggested.

"Hey guys! Orel's back! And he and Nala've brought somebody!" the village caller announced in the pub.

"Huh?!" everyone rushed outside.

"Out of the way! She needs the herbalist. She's not well!" Orel yelled carrying the woman to the herbalist after parking his sandsailer just outside their small village.

"Back off!" Nala yelled at someone who got too close, bending a wall between them with a stomp of her foot.

"Nala, we don't want the herbalist to have to heal him too. Be gentle," Orel reminded his passionate daughter. They went to the healing hut.

"We just found her in the dunes," Orel lied, laying the woman down on the mat in the herbalist's healing hut.

"Found? Or was she given to you?" the herbalist asked.

"Huh?" Orel turned to Nala.

"We could see that creature stand all the way from here, and we could see it bend down again," the herbalist said.

"But that's sixty miles away!"

"It must have been a powerful being then. Now, let me see her," the herbalist said.

Orel let go of the Desert Lady.

The herbalist first unwrapped her head and gasped. "Her hair!"

"We know," Orel replied kneeling.

"We think she IS the fire spirit or created that blazing thing!" Nala said.

"But she's human," the herbalist argued. "Not even a firebender could create something so large."

"Maybe she is the Avatar," Nala suggested.

"Avatar Aang is still alive, silly," Orel replied.

"Oh, right,"

"If you will please turn away, Orel, for her sake," the herbalist asked untying the woman's belt.

The herbalist reached to pull the woman's tunic off but flinched back.

"Her skin is burning!" the herbalist exclaimed. "I don't know how her body could be at such a temperature and not die of overheating."

"I told you! she IS the fire spirit!" Nala groaned rolling her eyes.

"Go get me some water. We need to cool her down," Nala ran.

They put a wet blanket over her, changing it every hour to cool her down. She didn't respond or open her eyes. They could touch her but only if their hands were wrapped. They sat her up every so often. She could swallow when they poured water down her throat, but otherwise, couldn't move at all. Her arms and legs were weakened.

"I'd say she hasn't eaten in at least five days," the herbalist said removing the now hot wet blanket and dunking it in a tub of water to rinse out.

Nala kneeled by the nearly naked woman laying still in chest bindings and underwear.

"Her hair is still blue," Nala commented with a furrowed brow.

"That I don't know what to do about. I've never seen it on anybody, have you?"

Nala shook her head.

"At least it's darker," the herbalist noted.

It was darker. Nala reached out to touch it. She could feel the air get warmer, closer to the woman's body.

"Nala! Be careful! She's still incredibly hot!" the herbalist barked. Nala flinched back and kept her distance, watching the woman breathing.

"Her skin is so pale,"

"She's probably foreign born,"

"But why would she be out here all alone? Daddy never lets ME go out alone!" Nala asked folding her arms.

"That's because you're only ten, Nala. When you're about twenty, maybe he'll reconsider," the herbalist told the girl. On the third day, curiosity consumed the village and while the herbalist went to get more supplies, almost everybody peeked in to get a glimpse of the mysterious blue-haired desert lady.

"She's a human being! Not an exhibit!" Nala said fighting her way in.

"Not fair you get to go in and we don't!"

"Yes it is! I found her with my Dad while you cowards just ran away from her flames!" Nala said stomping her foot, creating a rock wall in place of the curtains hung over the entryway.

"Don't worry, Desert Lady, I won't leave again. School can wait," Nala said reaching out to touch the woman's hand. It was still really warm, but at least it didn't burn her. Nala smiled. The herbalist let Nala stay with the Desert Lady as often as she liked, even spending the night sometimes, until one evening, someone came to the healing hut.

"Huh? Who's there?" Nala called.

A tall, masked sandbender entered the hut.

"Heard rumors of a beautiful blue haired lady here," the man said.

"She's not a statue! Leave!" Nala yelled standing up, spreading her arms out trying to block his view of the Desert Lady.

The sandbender grabbed Nala by her night shirt. "If you value your life, and your childhood, you'll leave," the sandbender said. Nala gulped. He turned and threw her towards the door of the healing hut.

Nala breathed heavily as the man bent down to remove the wet blanket curiously. Nala scanned the room looking for a weapon of sorts. She'd never used her sandbending for combat and didn't think it would be of any use in this situation. Then she saw something bright, something glowing, and she realized it was the Desert Lady's hair.

"Huh?" the sandbender gasped, dropping the corner of the blanket. Just then, there was a flash of white light and a blue, semi-translucent dragon appeared. It was a small dragon, but it lashed out at the sandbender catching his clothes on fire. He stumbled back towards the door screaming. Nala grabbed the bucket of water used to heat the blankets and poured it on the man. She didn't like him, but she didn't want to see him burn alive either.

The fires went out, but his shoulders and part of his back was already black and blistering.

Nala winced as the man ran off, cursing under his breath. Nala turned and found herself face to face with a tiny dragon, feeling the heat of its body.

It seemed to smell her, then took a few paces back, curling its long body around the Desert Lady.

Nala took one more hard look at it and then ran to wake the herbalist.

"Goodness!" the herbalist gasped as the dragon rested its chin on the blanket, not burning it, and closed its eyes.

"I hope it didn't make her heat up again.

"Please, um… dragon spirit, we're friendly. We mean only _peace_. We want to help your _lady_!" Nala said approaching it again. It sniffed her and snarled and then vanished.

The glow went away, but the blue didn't.

"It was like a defense," the herbalist commented.

Three days later, she opened her eyes. Nala was mashing some grain to powder for a bread the herbalist was planning on making later that day.

"Where am I?" the Desert Lady asked.

Nala's eyes lit up. Her voice was SOOOOO pretty!

The Desert Lady gasped when she realized she wasn't clothed, groping herself for her belongings, and then touching her still blue hair. It stopped darkening around a royal blue. "Where are my things?"

"Shhhh!" Nala said rushing over. "Your things are here! You were overheating! We had to use wet blankets to cool you down. You're better now, right? Here, drink! And you must be starving!"

The Desert lady accepted the cup, lifting it to her lips with such a delicate and soft grip. Nala could see her ribs.

"How long have I been here?" the Desert Lady asked.

"We came in about 8 sooooo… fifteen and two thirds of a day," Nala answered.

"What?!" the Desert Lady shrieked.

"Nala! Have you-" the herbalist froze when she saw the Desert Lady sitting.

"Oh!" the Desert Lady too fell by her side.

"Is she drinking?" the herbalist asked Nala. Nala nodded furiously.

"Drink more, you were SO dehydrated! I don't know how you survived!" the herbalist said raising the cup to the Desert Lady's lips again.

"Can you please explain to me what this place is?" the Desert lady asked handing the empty cup back, opening her eyes and looking up at the herbalist.

The herbalist leapt back. "Fire Nation!"

The Desert Lady winced at the exclamation as if she had just been hit.

"I'm sorry! It's been over thirty five years since the end of the war, and considering your age, you hold no responsibilities for the atrocities your nation committed then. Forgive me," the herbalist said, bowing.

"It's alright, I'm used to the hate," the Desert Lady said, sadly accepting another cup of water from Nala. "So what is this place?"

"The healing hut in our village," Nala answered.

"Are you a healer?" the Desert Lady, inquired noting the herbalist's green eyes and not blue ones like most of the healers from the Water Tribes.

"I am an herbalist."

"Ah… And how did I get here and why am I without clothing?" the Desert Lady asked.

"You mean to say, you don't remember?" the herbalist asked.

"I know I collapsed in the desert. I remember feeling angry, and I remember seeing flames engulf me, and then, nothing."

"Orel said a blue Fire Monster carried you to him and his daughter, Nala," the herbalist said motioning to the girl. "Then the monster vanished."

"A blue fire monster?" the Desert Lady asked just as bewildered as they were when they first saw it rise up into the sky.

"At first we thought it was a spirit since it was so big that we could see it from the village sixty miles away. The great outer wall of Ba Sing Se would have come up only to its knee. And It was… crying… Then, Orel and Nala thought you might be the spirit since, well… your hair turned the same color as the blue fire monster. Orel also thought you were hurt, so I took off your clothes and checked for any damage. There was none other than dehydration and starvation, and decided to keep you anyways since you also burned to touch. We've been trying to cool you down. Your hair started darkening and you did cool off until some ass tried to come and rape you in the night. But the blue fire monster returned to protect you, only this time it took the form of a little dragon. We exiled the man from the village for attacking you and the little dragon went away and your hair began to darken again though, it is still a little blue-"

"What?" the Desert Lady asked trying to find her reflection in something. "Where are my belongings?!" she demanded.

There was certain authority in her voice that made Nala spring into action, sliding over the mess of wrappings.

The Desert lady pulled out a knife that was painted black with a red stripe leaving only the steel blade part smooth and shiny.

"Woah!" both Nala and the Herbalist gasped at the sight of the blade.

The Desert Lady's brows tilted downward with the same sadness Nala saw in the giant Blue Fire Monster. "I don't understand," She said with shaking arms, dropping the knife, covering it with one hand.

"Are you a spirit that accidentally crossed over from the other world?" the herbalist asked.

"Are you stuck here?" Nala added.

This only confused the Desert Lady even more.

"What? No! At least…I don't think I am," the Desert Lady said grabbing a lock of hair and inspecting the blue end with her pale hand. "This has never happened before… It's like… a legend or something impossible to believe," the Desert Lady said with disbelief.


	16. Finding Peace, Part 2: The Library

"Aunt Jia! Your delivery!" A young boy said entering the tent. He gasped when he saw the legendary "Desert Lady" sitting up.

"She's awake!" the boy exclaimed excitedly. "Can I go tell Orel? He'll want to know!"

"Yes, Feng," the herbalist answered quickly.

"Feng is a Fire Nation name," the Desert Lady thought aloud.

"The boy is half Fire Nation,"

"Ah."

* * *

"Thank the spirits you're okay!" Orel exclaimed with relief upon entering, kneeling beside the young woman who now wore a loose, thin tunic over her thin body. "Do you feel any pain?"

"None at all, thank you. The herbalist told me all you've done for me," the Desert Lady said.

"Daddy look! Her eyes are SOOOOO pretty!" Nala said kneeling behind the Desert Lady peeling her face back, and prying opening her eyelids.

"NALA!" Both Orel and the herbalist screamed forcing Nala to let go. The Desert Lady rubbed her face a moment, a little dazed by the sudden turn of events.

"Sorry, Miss,..." Orel said flushed with embarrassment.

"What's your name?" Nala asked the Desert Lady.

"My name," the Desert Lady paused. Should she say?

Orel noted her apprehension. "A woman's past is her past, Nala. She does not need to tell us her name if she doesn't want to."

"Oh," Nala sighed. "Well, can we call you Sara?"

"Sure," the Desert Lady shrugged.

"Are must be hungry too, then, Sara? You've been unconscious for more than two weeks!"

"So I've been told," the Desert Lady looked devastated.

"Do you have a family that you need help getting back to?" Orel asked.

* * *

 _Family? She thought of her son. He was so young. He needed her there! Her expedition in the desert was supposed to last at most one week before checking in again at an embassy. And she got lost and spent three days in the desert before collapsing. And then more than two weeks here? Her father must have sent out search parties. No wait! They wouldn't. It reveal her to be missing and that would raise a panic in the Nation. The Princess and her husband missing? No. Her parents would just cope. They knew her. She will return... eventually._

* * *

"I have to get back!" The Desert Lady yelled standing up before falling again.

"You're weak! But don't feel guilty! Please. Being immobile for so long has caused your muscles to atrophy some! You'll need to grow back your strength slowly before you can go anywhere!" the herbalist said catching her.

"Let us help you, Miss, please!" Orel begged.

The Desert Lady was panting. Exhausted after just trying to stand and still not succeeding.

"Alright," she relented reluctantly..

"Would you mind coming to live with us? That way the healing hut is free for others," Nala asked eagerly.

"Sure, Whatever is easiest. I don't want to impose on anybody," the Desert Lady answered politely. She glanced back in the mirror. "I should probably cover up again," she thought seeing her blue hair in the reflection of a copper tray on a table.

"Don't bother! Everyone already knows you're here!" Nala said taking the Desert Lady's hand that her father wasn't holding.

"Everyone?" the Desert Lady asked with a bit of terror evident on her beautiful face.

"Yeah. They paraded through one day when I was at school. Some even brought gifts because they thought you were an angry spirit. I knew you were just a lady though, because I saw the fire monster crying."

"Crying?"

* * *

 _Because if I cried, I would lose more water. So my inner fire cried for me,_ Izumi realized.

* * *

They passed by several clay and stone huts and dwellings. A few wells. And then a nice large square with a rather small city hall. Orel supported the Desert Lady as she walked slowly.

"Look! Someone even painted you on a mural!" Nala said pointing at a wall.

The painting was of a really tiny village, some sand dunes, and a blue fiery form, proportionally, at least a hundred feet tall.

"It's surreal," the Desert Lady said as they passed it, slowly on their way to Nala and Orel's house.

"Maaa! The Desert Lady is going to live with us for a while!" Nala announced loudly.

"Oh wonderful! Oh woah!" a big bosomed sandbender exclaimed joyfully, rushing into the entryway to take the Desert Lady from Orel.

"She said we can call her Sara!" Nala informed her mother.

"Well it is nice to finally meet you, Sara! I am Vira, Nala's mom. Welcome to our home. It's not much, but, we make do," the woman said sweetly.

"Nice to meet you too," the desert lady replied, touching her pounding head with a grimace.

"Nala, we should let Sara rest for the remainder of the day. It was a long walk from Aunt Jia's Healing Hut."

Sara sat down at the kitchen table and immediately put her head down, exhausted.

"Her hair IS blue," Vira whispered to Orel in the kitchen.

"I told you!"

"And she is from the Fire Nation! Did you see her eyes? They're like a golden-tangerines!" Nala exclaimed in awe of everything about this lady.

"What is a Fire Nation girl doing all the way out here?" Vira asked.

"I don't know," Orel replied.

"And alone?"

"I don't know."

* * *

Each day, they walked a little longer, a little farther. Every other day, Nala and Orel went hunting for desert crawlers with the other hunters of the village while the Desert Lady stayed with Vira.

"Please, let me help you," the Desert Lady asked Vira, entering the kitchen."

"No, you're still healing!"

"I can handle kneading some dough or stirring badder or chopping," the Desert Lady said. "It is the least I can do for you as thanks for your hospitality."

"Alright, here, you can do the chopping while I do the dough. I'm very particular about how I knead my doughs. Maybe I will teach you some day," Vira said flashing a smile.

The Desert Lady returned it. "Thank you, for everything."

* * *

 _Izumi was snooping again. She found a whole set of those knives in the top drawer of her mother's dresser. They were beautifully crafted, razor sharp, and painted red and black. She was about to touch the sharp edge when she saw the same colors fly past her face and pin her wrists to the dresser drawer where she found them, causing her to drop the blade. She looked up, her heart racing to see her mother standing across the room, looking at her curiously._

" _Even the dull ones would slice right through your soft skin at that little touch, my love. I had to," Mai said walking over to free her daughter's wrists. "Forgive me," she added._

 _Izumi looked up in awe._

" _So the stories are true!"_

" _What stories?"_

" _The stories that Aunt Katara and Uncle Sokka tell me about you!" Izumi replied. "About your perfect aim!"_

" _Yes they're true."_

" _Is it true that you taught yourself how to throw out of boredom?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Could you teach me too?!" Izumi asked._

 _Mai turned to her daughter. "Why do you even want to learn? You're a firebender," Mai asked._

" _But what if somebody chi-blocks me like aunt Ty Lee and I can't bend anymore! How will I protect myself?!" Izumi asked._

 _Mai sighed. "Alright, I will teach you. But we will start with darts, not knives, and you actually have to practice. It is a very dangerous skill. If your aim is just a hair off your target, you BOTH could be killed," Mai said. She pulled out a sharp dart from her sleeve and handed it to Izumi. "We start tomorrow."_

 _Izumi gasped and took the dart, holding the point down carefully._

" _Don't bend it, lose it, or cut yourself or else we will end training," Mai told her._

 _Izumi nodded furiously._

* * *

The Desert Lady took the chopped vegetables and slid them off the cutting board into a dish for a salad, glancing at herself in the blade of the knife. Her hair was still blue, and not darkening. She couldn't possibly travel back to the Fire Nation looking like this. They'd call her a monster or an abomination.

"Do you have much experience with firebenders?" the Desert Lady asked Vira..

"No, Miss Sara. You are the first I have ever met before, and I must say I am quite impressed. Why do you ask?"

"Because last time I checked, my hair was black and I want to know how to change it back," the Desert Lady replied.

"I am afraid I don't know, sweetie," Vira said sadly.

"Didn't there used to be a library out here?" the Desert Lady asked. "Wan Shi Tong's Library? Do you think it might have the answers I seek?"

"I always thought that thing was just a legend but some claim the Avatar went with his friends in 100AG. If the latter is true, then the library is gone because, as rumor has it, the southern water tribe boy in the Avatar's group angered the great guardian of the library who returned it to the spirit world. If the former is true, then it never existed in the first place."

"The spirit world," the desert lady said to herself quietly

"What are you thinking, Miss. Sara?" Vira asked.

"Just that, My uncle was able to meditate into the spirit world. I wonder if I could too," the Desert Lady answered.

"I suppose it is possible, if you believe in that kind of thing," Vira shrugged skeptically, placing the dough in the oven.

* * *

Izumi found herself in an eerily dark part of the spirit world. Her bending was gone, just as Aang had told her would happen when she was just a girl. Naturally, she would have to walk to find what she was seeking.

Just then, something flew overhead. She ducked. When she looked up again, a massive, menacing, winged spirit looked down at her with hunger in its eyes.

"Please, I come seeking peace," she said bowing to the spirit, touching her head to the ground. The spirit said nothing. "I have come in search of Wan Shi Tong's Library."

"Seeking peace? Not bringing it?" the Winged Spirit asked.

"How could I hope to bring peace to anyone when my own mind fraught with turmoil and confusion?" Izumi asked the spirit looking up miserably.

The spirit nodded in understanding and turned, revealing the library hanging upside down in the sky, it's highest spire just barely touching ground. It was overgrown with what looked like roots sprouting out of the sky.

"Thank you!" Izumi called to the winged spirit as it sailed away. As soon as the princess climbed up through the window, the gravity flipped, so she could walk normally. The grand atrium was more beautiful than any thing she'd ever seen in all four kingdoms.

"Humans are not welcome here!" she heard a low voice growl followed by the flapping of great wings. Izumi flattened herself against the ground as the great owl-snake flew towards her, cracking the ground just before her with its beak. "ESPECIALLY YOUR race of human!" the great spirit sat said looking down at her with wise, unforgiving eyes.

"Please!" Izumi begged. "I come seeking only knowledge!" she said kneeling, touching her head to the ground as a sign of respect.

"LIAR! Humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans, like that other firebender who sought to destroy the moon spirit, and that water tribe boy who sought to destroy YOU!"

"I am not like them, I swear. I am not trying to destroy anything and I am not lying! Even my Aunt once said that I am a terrible liar and that I should stop trying to learn. I just— I just want to know what I am! There's an entire sandbender tribe that thinks I am an angry fire spirit because apparently I conjured a giant blue fiery monster in the middle of nothing. But I can't remember any of it!

"I am confused and afraid. I just want to return home to my family, but I can't. My hair is blue and its not changing back! It will probably cause civil unrest and raise questions for which I have no idea how to answer. I have already disgraced my nation by displeasing my husband so much so that he's run away! I was trying to find him, and the desert was the last place we hadn't yet looked. I was only supposed to be gone a week, and ended up losing myself, as well, in more ways than one. Please, help me. I seek only peace and understanding, not destruction," Izumi vented. "I am not like the others in my country."

The spirit looked down on her skeptically.

"You are great, all-knowing spirit. I know you have the ability to look within my soul and see that I am truthful. So do it!" Izumi ordered impatiently with her head still bowed to the floor respectfully.

"Hm… very well. I will let you peruse my vast collection, under one condition. You must contribute some worthwhile knowledge," the spirit said.

 _Knowledge. What piece of knowledge could I possibly give to a spirit who knows ten thousand things?_

The owl waited patiently, reading the girl's emotions, expressions, shaking limbs, and her being. She was truly frightened and completely…pure in her intentions and motivations. There was something in here that he hadn't seen in thousands of years at least.

"There's a relatively new bending art," Izumi said finally.

"I know of metalbending already," Wan Shi Tong said.

"It's a subskill of a subskill dubbed 'Dark Lightning.' It is a technique used to paralyze your opponent temporarily by overstimulating the synapses in their nervous and muscular systems or halting the signalling completely. It leaves no markings on the body. Only trauma on the brain and a memory of the fear of pain of losing control of our own body,"

"And how did you obtain knowledge of this bending art?" Wan Shi Tong asked the young lady.

"My husband did it to me, once," Izumi confessed nervously.

Wan Shi Tong could hear a fear in her voice when she recalled that memory. "Rise, human," the great owl-snake ordered. "You may roam freely."

Izumi let out a sigh of relief and walked past him steadily, wondering if it would do her well to ask him immediately for the section on firebending. She decided against it, not wanting to further pester the great beast. And began searching aisle after aisle for a section on firebending… or something fire related...

The Fire Nation section had been torched.

"Why?" she fell to her knees with a feeling of complete devastation washing over her being.

 _Your ancestors did this!_ a voice yelled in her head.

"But I am not my ancestors!" she yelled out at nothing with her eyes shut. "I am not just a flame," she cried. She opened her eyes and dipped her hand in the ashes that remained. She swept them aside to reveal the beautiful marble floors underneath. She saw her own reflection in these. Her hair was glowing again.

"Stop it already!" she screamed tugging at her blue locks, falling onto her back writhing on the ground in a confused agony, getting ash all over her tan sandbender clothes.

She stopped crying and looked up at the ornate ceiling of the grand library. _Why couldn't I be born into the Water Tribe or Earth Kingdom? Even the Foggy Swamp life would have been better than this!_ she thought to herself miserably. _Why do I have to born in one of the most violent and hated of the four nations? And why the Royal Family?_

Just then Izumi felt a rough but slimy tongue lick away the tears on her face. She screamed and rolled to the side. "Oh! It's just a knowledge seeker," She let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the fox-like creature and ran her fingers through her glowing blue hair.

It motioned for her to follow.

Izumi hesitated at first before standing and followed it into the shadowy halls of the torched Fire Nation section.

"I can't see!" Izumi said to the knowledge seeker, beginning to worry. As the fear intensified with each step, her hair lit up, casting a dim blue light on the room. She looked up at it. _Well I guess that's convenient._

Finally they arrived at a massive door in the shape of a flame. The knowledge seeker motioned to a part on the wall beside a door shaped like a hand.

"I can't firebend into it. There's no bending in the spirit world unless I came through a portal that's been closed for ten thousand years and still is as far as I know," Izumi reminded the knowledge seeker.

The knowledge seeker nodded and motioned to it again.

Izumi raised her hand to it anyways and closed her eyes. It is not like she had anything to lose here in the spirit world. There was a low rumbling sound and the door slid open. The knowledge seeker ran forward and flicked a switch somewhere in the room igniting a a large fire in the center of the circular space. Carvings of dragons and humans decorated the columns and ceilings of this completely in-tact section of the Fire Nation part of the library.

"Why was it closed off?" Izumi asked.

The knowledge seeker didn't speak but pulled out a book on a low shelf and offered it to her.

"The First Masters," Izumi read aloud.

On the cover of the book was a tiny man carved into the leather, flanked by what looked like giant feet on fire. It was like the villager's mural painting of her!

Izumi opened it and saw similar drawings of tiny men followed by massive fiery 'monsters'.

"Year 89341 B.F.H.C," Izumi read. "What is B.F.H.C?" the knowledge seeker tugged on her sleeve with its mouth. She stood and followed it. "Wait! Can I take this book out of this closed section? It must be restricted for a reason! I don't want to get in trouble with your master!"

The knowledge seeker grabbed her sleeve and kept pulling. "I suppose you'll put it back again then, once I am through reading," Izumi decided, taking the book with her.

They came to a room that Izumi recognized from Uncle Sokka's stories of the great library. It was a celestial calendar with archaic names for months weeks and days. Izumi started turning the dial to match the date on the page.

Decades passed, then centuries passed, then a millenia, then another, then another. Izumi looked up. There was no sun. "An eclipse?" the fox turned one dial and one planet of their solar system slid out. "Harmonic Convergence?" Izumi realized. "BFHC… Before the first harmonic convergence?" she looked back at the book."89341 BEFORE the FIRST harmonic convergence? Did they even have written language then?

The knowledge seeker jumped up on her and flipped a few pages.

"Written and recorded by Avatar Kihira of the Eastern Fire Islands in the year 203 AFHC with assistance of Avatar Norikanu 89742-89251 BFHC," Izumi read. "But only one avatar can live at any given time. Wait! Did this fire avatar connect with her past lives to write histories?" Izumi realized suddenly. The knowledge seeker nodded.

"I get it now! That makes so much sense!" Izumi exclaimed. She moved around a few days to get the sun back, then sat down in the celestial calendar room, and started reading with the knowledge seeker curled up by her side ready to try to answer any more questions.

The Princess read about dragons and lion turtles and firebenders.

"Okay, I don't understand, again" Izumi said hopelessly to the Knowledge Seekers. "The Zhi Tribe made these firey monsters to conquer the Congs?"

The Knowledge Seeker turned a few more pages.

Izumi read it back again. "No, they were not monsters, they were the tribesmen. It was their inner fire walking around in the world… What is that supposed to mean?... I have to give up my firebending just to turn my hair back? I just have to 'let it out'?" Izumi asked.

The fox perched its front paws on Izumi's knees and touched its nose to her forehead.

* * *

Izumi closed her eyes and stood before a scene of people in really old clothing she had only ever seen in some boxes in the Dragon Bone Catacombs when she and Masaru went exploring. "We don't want to fight! We just want peace," General Zhi yelled, flanked by those flaming feet. Izumi looked up and saw a giant red flaming form of the general.

"Then don't fight and just leave our village!" General Cong replied angrily.

"But we cannot let your practice of subjugation of the less powerful tribes to continue! It is wrong to enslave the smaller tribes simply because they are less advanced and less organized!"

"Aren't you trying to do exactly that to us now? Subjecting us to _your_ rule?"

"When we are through establishing peace throughout the nation, we will not control your every move. Only stop you from feeding the people of what you call the unworthy villages to your dragons!" Zhi yelled. "You don't deserve the power of the dragon!".

"And you do?" Cong yelled lighting his fists on fire.

Zhi remained with his arms by his sides, palms out, proving he carried no weapons.

"Yes, we do. So much so that the dragons granted us their power directly," Zhi said. He looked up and the flaming form of himself bent down and picked up General Cong. Kong bent a red sphere to keep distance between himself and the flaming hand. When Zhi looked down again, his hair was glowing red.

"We seek only peace, citizens of the Cong Empire." Zhi said holding up is enemy general for both armies to see. "This man has been kidnapping your women and children and feeding them to his dragons to try to maintain their support in this pointless battle for nothing. He has lost faith in his own armies so much that he relies solely on these beloved creatures of worship to comprise his fighting force. He has been blaming the disappearance of your loved ones on us. But we are not abductors. Join me and as long as I live, you will never have to dig another mine again, you will never have to lay a rail, your beloved children will _never_ go missing, and you all, will be free. Do not fear my inner fire standing above me, for it is simply my life. All fire is life and not destruction no matter the lies Cong has been telling. Fire does not swell from rage or hate. It is none other than passion and love. My inner fire is the source of my will to spread such love, and peace throughout my nation and all others, so join me and you too, can grow and thrive, and someday, maybe even be able to bend your own inner fire out into the world to make another protector of the peace. Let us unite under a common flame, another passion, and free ourselves from tyranny. Free ourselves from the cages we lock ourselves in and the limitations and traditions that make us tear at our skin, it is time for a new era of development and exploration."

The scene dissolved and they were in a village, the Zhis and the Congs were both there. Adults were talking, merchants trading, and children chasing each other in the streets. Izumi took a few paces forward. She looked inside a school just as a teacher rang the dismissal bell. Before the children came thundering out, small flaming animals of all colors emerged. Green flaming dragonfly-rabbits, pig-chickens, even turtle-ducks ran out of the school house followed by the children. They were like pets.

"Hey! Take it back!" one child yelled at another.

"No! You deserved it!" the other child yelled.

The first child's green fire dragonfly-rabbit attacked.

The second child's koala-sheep intercepted and the flames fought between them for dominance while the children remained completely unharmed, watching in awe as their passions fought for them, keeping them safe and defending their own ideals, whatever they had been before the argument.

"Stop!" the teacher ordered storming out with a red flaming dragon breaking up the two small animals.

"You are still both fire spirits! You are still both brothers and sisters. You are family! You cannot keep fighting!"

"Why not?" one child asked stomping his foot as his koala-sheep stepped between his legs.

"Yeah! Why not?" the other demanded folding her arms as her dragonfly-rabbit landed on her shoulder.

"Because... the earthbenders are coming," the teacher said gravely. "And if we are too busy squabbling amongst ourselves, we will all PERISH!" the teacher yelled.

The children glanced at each other, their little flaming animals shrinking in fear. There was a low rumbling in the distance as the sound of thundering armies echoed through the mountainous region.

* * *

"Sara! Sara! Wake up! The bandits are coming!" Nala said shaking the Desert Lady's Shoulder. "SARAAAA!"

* * *

Izumi looked up at the clear sky hearing a distant yet vaguely familiar voice of a child.

"SARAAAAA!" the child cried. Terror filled her voice.

Izumi looked around. Nobody else saw it. Then she looked down and saw the knowledge seeker by her side. She was in somebody's memory. Its memory!

"I have to go!" Izumi said bending down, wrapping her hands around the neck of the fox-like spirit.

She stood up in the celestial calendar room and ran, following the knowledge seeker to the grand atrium. Izumi looked up at the turret. How was she going to get out that window without a change in the gravity? She began pacing, panicking. The knowledge seeker whimpered.

"WHAT?!" she yelled. She froze when she saw the fear in its eyes. "No! I'm sorry! I'm not like that. I am just really stressed right now and I need to find a way to get out. The girl that rescued me from the Si Wong Desert, I think she is in trouble! I have to help. Those villagers saved me and now bandits are raiding them. I have to protect the peace!"

Then Izumi remembered her conversation with her father. She couldn't establish peace for others unless she first established it within herself! She took a deep breath and closed her eyes and tried to slow her heart down. If she could meditate into the spirit world, maybe she could meditate out of it too.


	17. Identity

**THANKS AGAIN TO MusicPlayer81 *inserts heart here***

* * *

The Desert Lady opened the eyes and saw fire outside the window of Nala's bedroom.

"What happened?" Izumi asked.

"The bandits came!"

"And they're just burning up the place? Why?" Izumi asked.

"Sara, there is no time for questions like that! We must flee!" Orel yelled.

"No! I won't run! This is your home! We have to defend it! I have to defend it especially after all you and your village has done for me! You don't deserve to to be uprooted for no good reason! You've done nothing!" Izumi yelled. She jumped out the window walking down a burning street, taking the heat in and putting out the flames with her firebending.

 _Fire is not destruction. It is life. It is passion. A will for love for peace. It is warmth and safety. It is me!_

The sandbenders stopped packing as the legendary blue-haired Desert Lady made her way to the square where the bandits centered their looting operation.

"Leave this tribe alone!" the Desert Lady yelled.

The masked bandits laughed. "And what are you going to do to stop us?"

"Whatever I need to," the Desert Lady replied holding her hands by her side, palms out.

The bandits looked at each other and laughed.

"You've nothing."

"Yeah, this could be fun!"

Izumi danced around them, evading their weapons and extinguishing any fire they created.

"Fight back you coward, fight back!" the bandit yelled, enraged.

"No! I don't want a fight. I want peace," the Desert Lady insisted.

The sandbenders ignored her and kept fighting.

"Why are you resorting to stealing?" the Desert Lady asked. _Focus. Prove to them we are all on the same side. Remind them that we are all just humans with the same basic needs. Maybe they can find a commonality with the villagers here. Maybe they could establish a treaty of sorts?_

In that moment, a bandit struck her and threw her back several yards. Her side hurt, but she would not give up. She kicked up spinning on her hands and created a ring of blue fire around her.

Only two people in the world had blue fire. Azula of the Fire Nation, and Crowned Princess Izumi!

The bandits shrunk back in horror.

"No!" Izumi extinguished the fire. "I am sorry. I didn't want to fight you. I still don't want to fight you, and I don't want to defeat you, even if it would be the easiest thing to do," Izumi said walking towards the bandits with bright blue hair, glowing again. Calm down Izumi. You don't want people to be afraid of you! Think of the General Zhi!

The bandit ran.

"Wait! I want to help you!"

"They're bandits, Sara!" Nala yelled. "They don't deserve your help!"

Izumi tackled the man running from her. "Maybe they do. Just think! People don't raid villages for no reason. Clearly they're dissatisfied about something, and maybe I can help!" Izumi explained. "Where do you come from, bandit?" She asked. "Is your village short of food or water? Is your family sick or something?" Izumi asked the man.

"You monster!" he spat at her feet.

"How could I be monster?" Izumi asked, haughtily.

"You're the Fire Princess Izumi! Your great great grandfather torched the Air Temples, then your great grandfather torched the Southern Water Tribe, and then your grandfather torched the earth kingdom—"

Izumi's eye twitched with fury. "THEY ARE NOT ME AND THEN MY FATHER ENDED THE WHOLE THING!" She yelled loudly and clearly, silencing him. She turned away from him. "And yet you call me the monster when I haven't even had the chance to prove my being. I am not Sozin! I am not Azulon! And am not Ozai! I am Princess Izumi, daughter of Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai, and heir to the throne. I have never torched anything but one communications room, and my best friend's creme brulee one night at a party when he made me angry. And I have certainly never torched anyone in my life.

"No matter how much I want to torch you right now, I won't, because I am not like the others who came before me. I don't care for power or domination. I seek only peace and understanding of myself and my world around me and will do whatever is necessary to achieve that for my nation and those of all the other nations all over the world! Look at yourself, bandit. And then look around you. YOU are the one who instigated the torching of this village, not me. YOU are the one who is no better than the monster, Sozin, and the other Fire Lords of old." Izumi said loudly and clearly in a steadfast, voice fit for a Queen, no, not queen, a Fire Lord.

The entire village gathered around, mouths gaping at the blue-haired Desert Lady. With each silent second that passed, her hair became darker until it was black again. Only then did everyone recognize the princess that had appeared in newspapers all over the word and believe she was really her.

"What brought the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation to the Si Wong Desert?" the bandit asked still in disbelief.

"I was searching for someone. Someone I was supposed to care for, who was supposed to care for me, someone that made me incredibly angry. I wanted to hurt him, but I understand now that such a final and pointless action would accomplish nothing. Neither of us were happy when we were together, but apart, maybe at least we could find peace," Izumi said looking down at the ground.

Izumi drew one of her throwing blades and the crowd stepped back.

"Nala," she taking a step towards the girl who saved Izumi with help from her father.

The girl ran over, meeting her halfway. "Yes, Princess?"

"If you ever need help, here with your village or here," she pointed at the girl. "with yourself, go to a Fire Nation Embassy and show them this and ask for Ziyuan. If they try to take it from you, just twist the blade and it will cut them, but they will let you through.

"And you," Izumi turned to the bandit she tackled. She flipped another blade out of her sleeve. "In case you and your comrades are willing to end this cycle of destruction, violence, and poverty," She said handing him the blade with the handle pointed towards him while looking up at the burning roofs.

"I don't understand, how can a princess of the Fire Nation not want to conquer everything? How could anyone in the Fire Nation not want to conquer with their fire power?" the bandit asked.

"Because this princess understands that fire alone is not power. It is energy, and energy gives life," Izumi said.


	18. Return to the Fire Nation

Izumi looked up at the red buildings and golden roofs of the capital city on the Fire Nation's largest island, wondering just when and why the nations decided to color code their architecture and clothing and beginning to loathe the colors of her home country.

"Passport?" the customs officer asked.

Izumi looked up at him with her golden tangerine colored eyes.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked with a tone of arrogance only used when intentionally intimidating somebody.

"Nobody enters the Fire Nation without a passport," the customs agent said. Izumi took her hand out from under the blanket that she draped over her head and shoulders and offered her hand to the customs agent. He reached into it to find it empty. Then she closed her fingers around his hand.

Dark lightning. Bending the electricity in another's body, stunning him temporarily. And she walked through, discharging his body of the excess energy from a few yards away.

He watched her go, too frightened to even call security. She wondered how many others knew of this skill. Hisoki and Azula were the only people she had ever seen use it. It appeared her father had learned of the technique and could recognize its effects but was too cowardly to use it. Izumi on the other hand, would do anything to find peace for her nation, and for herself. If that included mastering dark lightning, then she would, and she did.

It was unusually cold this winter in the Fire Nation. As Izumi walked she warmed a little, but it was not still not enough. The Crown Princess looked down at her callused hands that her mother would certainly reprimand her for allowing to fall into such a state of disrepair. She sighed and uncurled her fingers and lit a red flame. Still… so… cold... So Izumi extinguished the flame, adjusted her blanket to ensure it completely covered every hair atop her head, and then opened her head again, closing her eyes for an instant, to light not just her hand, but her hair.

The Princess exhaled blue fire and continued all the way to the capital proper in the volcano and then the palace. Would she walk through the front doors or sneak in? Sneak into the palace and walk through the front doors of the throne room, she decided.

She followed the drains into the servants quarters, climbed out through the grills, walked from the kitchens down some eerily vacant halls and then to a busier part of the palace near the throne room wearing dark red and black traveling cloak, the blanket still over her head.

 _Finally._

"Excuse me, Ma'am, the Fire Lord is currently in a private session," a guard said.

"Whoever is with him can wait," Izumi replied without showing her face. Both guards dipped into a fighting stance. She sighed. She tipped punching fire in the direction of one and kicking fire in the direction of the other, knocking both out cold. I should have them fired as soon as my presence is acknowledged and my authority is restored. They failed to protect my father from an intruder. They failed to protect him from me.

Izumi took a deep breath and kicked open both doors with a massive blast of blue fire and marched in lucky to find just her parents present, talking.

Zuko didn't recognize her at first, his vision obstructed by the red wall of flames.

Izumi slammed closed the doors behind her then discarded her blanket and kept marching forward. Zuko stood, lowering the wall of red fire to get a better look at her. Once she was exactly twenty feet away from the base of the throne, she got down on her knees and bowed, touching her head to the ground.

"Father, forgive me, for taking so long to return," she asked humbly. Zuko extinguished the flames just in front of the throne so he could walk through and towards her.

"Your hair," Zuko commented. Izumi opened her eyes and looked at her reflection in the marble floors. She took a deep slow breath.

 _Peace. You are safe now, you are free_. She said in her head, making it slowly turn black again.

"Izumi?" Zuko asked, looking down at her. "Please rise."

She stood and looked at him.

Those golden tangerine colored eyes were certainly hers. "What happened?" he asked, touching her cheek just to verify it was really his daughter standing before him and not some cactus juice induced apparition. "Kei Lo said you disappeared in the desert; you were only supposed to spend a week in there and then report to the embassy in Ba Sing Se and you didn't!"

"It's kind of a long story… I kind of almost got sold into slavery and then ended up losing myself in more ways than one while wandering in the desert for three days before collapsing then spent over two weeks unconscious in some sandbender's healing hut and I discovered a new form of firebending," Izumi said.

"Changing your hair?"

"No, that's just a side effect to the real power, I would show you now, but it would destroy the entire palace," Izumi replied.

"A new power?"

"Apparently it is originated as some ancient defense mechanism that arose when one lost control of themselves after being in great fear and pain for a long period of time, or a very excruciating instant. It can be controlled but only by those with pure intentions who are at peace, or want peace within themselves and their surroundings."

"And how do you know this?"

"A knowledge seeker helped me," Izumi shrugged.

"A knowledge seeker?"

"In Wan Shi Tong's library,"

"But the library's gone! Avatar Aang said the great spirit recalled it after Sokka violated its purpose."

"I was able to meditate into the spirit world and find it. Great Uncle Iroh and Aunt Azula's teachings turned out useful after all for that kind of thing."

"Wow. And did you have any luck finding Hisoki?" Zuko asked genuinely surprised by his daughter's new ability. He always knew she was an extremely powerful bender but never expected her talents to extend into spiritual territory as well.

"No. I came to accept that perhaps he just doesn't want to be found and returned to the capital."

"It's been a year daughter, since he left."

"Your point?"

"I believe that is sufficient reason to believe that Hisoki's not going to coming back."

"What is that supposed to mean for us exactly?"

"It means _you_ are free to remarry," Mai answered with a heavy sigh, not wanting to have to watch her daughter go through so much pain again, but optimistic that they could work together, make a better selection, and possibly have a chance at happiness.

"Absolutely not! I will never again partake in such a humiliating ceremony," Izumi refused adamantly, frowning.

"The Fire Sages are getting more and more impatient," Mai informed her daughter. "They say since you are physically able you must provide at least one more heir to the throne in case- just in case anything happens to the rest of us."

"I'm well aware of the necessity of having an heir and a spare, Mother, and I fully intend to have more children, but I am going to do so on my own terms and at this point, nobody can stop me," Izumi said, looking down at her callused hands then up at her parents again.

"You're going to go to Saru, aren't you?" Mai asked.

Izumi looked down at her hands. "I don't have a choice. He is the only option for this nation to survive. If I am to lead this country some day, and maintain peace, I must be able to maintain it in myself at the very least, or else I WILL become a monster. I learned in the desert that the only way I can control this fire inside myself is if I manage to keep myself in a constant state of relative peace. It was fear, hate, pain, and anger that unleashed my inner flame, and I don't want to hurt anybody. I cannot stand to be in a loveless marriage, Mother; therefore, Saru is my only chance of conceiving again."

"Izumi," Mai placed a hand on her shoulder. "Be safe."

The princess nodded. "But before I go anywhere, I need to see Iroh, my son."

* * *

The four-year-old looked up at the mother he hadn't seen for nearly a year. He didn't recognize her at first. Izumi set down her belongings, walked over to the vanity and brushed her hair. She gathered half of it and put it up in a familiar bun he would know and added a golden flame decoration then turned to her son and reached for him.

"Hello, Prince Iroh, do you remember me?" Izumi asked holding him. He hesitated at first, touching her neck then her face, inspecting this woman while Mai watched on. Then he bent over and rested his head on her chest just under her chin, hugging her while she swayed on her feet, rocking him.

Izumi's heart melted all over again. As she rocked him, already four years old in place. She let him sleep in her bed that night and woke up with his foot in her jaw. They woke up together, then Izumi personally washed and bathed her son for the day and dressed him for his lessons. She talked to him and listened to him babble as she did her hair and dabbed her lips with a little rouge.

He still played with dolls and soldiers, and still tied the girl to the post and still had the soldiers execute special rescue missions while the remainder of the female dolls were all piled between the pillows on his mother's bed.

"Why don't we mix things up a bit, shall we?" Izumi asked tying the soldier to the post of the bed and putting the doll in place of him in the war meeting. Iroh watched her looked up in confusion and fell over, his tiny mind blown.

"Women can fight too, you know Iroh, even if we look fragile," she said rubbing his hair off his forehead affectionately.

"But I never see you fight," Iroh replied.

"Oh you will. If you want, maybe your Great Aunt Azula will be willing to help me with a demonstration," Izumi suggested.

Iroh looked up at her in awe.

She held him in her lap at breakfast, even though he had been sitting in his own chair for the past year.

"Izumi, he will regress in his etiquette lessons if you don't have him sit properly," Zuko reminded the princess.

"He's four, Father, he can remain my lap child a little while longer, thank you," Izumi said feeding herself a spoonful of porridge then offering a smaller bite to Iroh who just opened his mouth and accepted.

"Zumi, a Prince should learn proper behavior from a young age so it becomes second nature," Mai reminded her.

"I will make that call on how young. He's MY son after all, and I don't want him to _suffer_ as I did," Izumi replied firmly, talking with her mouth full much to her parent's horror. Zuko sighed and shook his head. Mai said nothing more the rest of the meal.

* * *

That afternoon, Mai held Iroh back in the old Agni Kai chamber.

"Iroh thinks women are only good for being tied to posts and only men can be the ones to save them. I thought we'd put on a little demonstration to prove to him otherwise," Izumi said taking off her cloak so that she stood only in pants, and her bindings.

"Is this really necessary?" Zuko asked from one end of the room where his daughter and sister had tied him up as the damsel in distress.

"Oh Zuzu! Don't worry. I won't hurt your precious little baby, not anywhere visible at least!" Azula reassured the Fire Lord.

"Release my Father or face the wrath of my bending!" Izumi yelled, acting of course, but still very convincing.

"Bring it, dear niece!" Azula yelled back with a smirk spreading across her slightly sagging, yet still beautiful features. Mai watched as the two fought blue on blue. Occasionally, a couple of blue streaks flashed through Izumi's hair but darkened again quickly as she regained control of her consciousness. All she had to do to to control her power was find peace in her self. Izumi pushed forward then rolled under Azula's fire blast. She blocked, turned, and sliced the ropes binding her father with a fire whip. He ran to join her.

"Enough! You're outnumbered Aunt Azula!" Izumi yelled with a smirk.

"Oh no, you've caught me!" Azula said falling to the ground as Izumi and Zuko stood.

"See?" Izumi asked relaxing and walking over to her son. He was absolutely floored.

"Mama! Can I fight you next?" Young Iroh asked squirming out of Grandma Mai's lap.

"You want to fight me?" Izumi asked, glancing at her parents laughing.

"I can bend fire too!" he said creating a bunch of measly little red sparks and tiny flames extending about four inches from his knuckles.

"Okay," Izumi said leading him to the ring. "Don't worry, Father. I won't hurt my own baby!" She said to her anxious father.

"First we bow. Then we turn and face each other. Take your stance, Iroh," Izumi instructed her boy. Hm. So he had been receiving lessons while she was away.

"And fight!" Azula yelled. Izumi shot a small flame at her boy's feet. He jumped back and did a high arch kick managing to almost reach her face with a measly little flame. She bent back dramatically and did a sweep kick. He rolled forward and closed the gap between them and punched a flame straight up to her chin. She bent back and he hooked her ankle with his arms and lifted her foot when she wasn't looking making her fall on her back.

"Ow!" Izumi exclaimed falling on her tailbone.

Azula, Zuko and EVEN Mai couldn't help but to laugh.

"I must say daughter! You just got legitimately beaten in a duel against your four year old son!" Zuko laughed.

"Well done, Prince Iroh!" Azula congratulated.

"So I won't get beheaded for knocking down the crown princess?"

"Not in sparring practice," Azula confirmed. "Try that little trick anywhere else, and we'll have your little head, button nose and all!" Azula threatened, dabbing at his nose as he looked up in fear at her. Izumi pulled him into a hug from behind.

"Oh don't worry about them, Iroh! I'm proud of you. You're learning and that's all that matters right now. The specific formalities will come later," she said, kissing him in the cheek while he smiled, thinking back to herself at age four, sitting in etiquette lessons, receiving a cold glare from her mother for misbehaving, her father rarely there, consumed by his Fire Lord duties. She promised to never let that happen to Iroh.

 _I will love him. I will love him to the world and back so he doesn't know the turmoil I had within me._

That second night back, Izumi read him the story of Oma and Shu and the Cave Of Two Lovers. The next night she read him 'Love Amongst the Dragons'. The fourth night, she told him the story of the great princess of the Northern Water Tribe who gave her life back to the Moon Spirit effectively saving the world. The fifth night she told him the story of a Princess of the Fire Nation, who got lost in a desert storm and decided to dedicate her life to spreading love and peace to all classes and all countries not through war and submission, but through diplomacy.

"That last story is about you, isn't it? You're that Princess aren't you, Mommy?" Iroh asked in his beautiful and small little voice that made Izumi's heart sing with joy every time she heard him speak.

"Yes my love," she replied stroking his head as he lay comfortably curled up in the bend of her body.

"I hope I can be a hero one day and help people. Not necessarily by fighting but however I'm needed."

"That's very kind and noble of you Iroh," Izumi whispered, looking down at his beautiful face before pressing a kiss onto his forehead. That night after he fell asleep, she decided she was ready. She left a note on her mother's bedside table on her way out asking that she help Iroh if she didn't return until the next morning. She then changed into her peasant clothes that she dug out of her childhood bedroom, grabbed a traveling cloak, and went to Masaru's mansion, launching herself over the wall with her firebending.

* * *

 **As always, thanks to MusicPlayer81 for being my beta for being so patient and enduring.**


	19. To Love Someone

**I hope I censored the ending of this chapter enough for the story to stay T. There are a lot of (...) towards the end. If you want to know what was originally there, its on AO3 and my blog.**

* * *

This time, she was ready for whatever his guards brought. She put down her hood as soon as she landed in the third floor corridor. She was surrounded almost immediately. She twisted up onto one hand creating a ring of Fire with her feet knocking them all down with red. Two earthbenders sent their gloves in her direction. She was ready. She turned kicked one to the side, one up and evaded then punched the other two Earthen gloves out the window and bent lower into another stance. They looked surprised.

"Tell me where your Master is!" Izumi demanded.

"Why should we tell you?" A guard asked.

"Because if you don't, I'll have you locked away for an eternity only to never see the light of day again!" Izumi yelled lifting him by one hand.

"Princess Izumi!" A voice called. She turned around. It was the first two guards she met at Masaru's house.

"Lu, Yen!" Izumi remembered their names. "I need to speak with Masaru!"

"He is rather occupied at the moment," Lu informed her.

"We recommend you leave and return later with an appointment." Yen added.

"I am the Princess of the Fire Nation, I don't need an appointment to visit my best friend!" Izumi yelled lifting Lu off his feet with one hand, lighting fire in her free one.

"Put him down, Zumzu, we don't want anybody to get hurt, now do we?" Masaru said behind her.

Izumi froze at the sound of his voice and then dropped the guard and extinguished the flame in her other hand.

"Before you get angry and wake my father, just know that both he and my mother agreed to let me come here since you're the only one who can help at this point."

"Huh?" Some of the guards gasped.

"I can explain in private." Izumi said.

Masaru nodded and opened the door to his office.

"Hisoki is gone." Izumi said pulling her hood down but not looking up. "He has been for a year and no one has been able to find him. He was crushed after the miscarriage. Blamed me for everything then fled. Claimed he felt like he was worth nothing. My parents say he's as good as dead, but the Fire Sages still insist that since I am still able, I must provide another heir to the crown. I know this is not under the best of circumstances, but— can you help me?" Izumi asked finally looking up with her golden-tangerine colored eyes and a tone of desperation Masaru didn't recognize.

"You-" he set his pen down and ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back. "What you're suggesting is adultery-"

"Hisoki is DEAD!"

"You don't know that. Until his body turns up you're still bound to him-"

"I don't care! Saru— you're my best friend!"

"Close the door, will you?" Masaru asked.

She did a bit more gently this time and locked it.

"If anyone finds out, the nobles will raise armies and start a civil war against your family! When they find you've been lying to them—"

"I don't care! They claim to want us to spread love and peace, not war! Why should they start an uprising because I love somebody? Saru— please!" Izumi begged.

"What do your parents say about this— ludicrous suggestion of yours?" Masaru asked.

"They said I should remarry."

"Why don't you just do that?"

"Because I want to marry you, Saru but I know you would never consent!"

"I would. If his body were present and we had confirmation that-"

"We've searched for a year! Even now I have a secret army of people out there looking! A personal force even my dear father doesn't know about— we've done EVERYTHING we could and cannot find him. He doesn't want me, Saru clearly, and I couldn't care less about him, but time is running out and the Sages say I must produce another child—"

"Another heir," Masaru clarified. "Not a bastard with no claims to anything!"

"When I become Fire Lord, I will legitimize him and silence any of those opposed to me loving my _true_ family! Saru, please—"

Masaru sighed. There was something different about this Izumi from the one he left that fateful day that he returned from the Army. She was not going to give up on him. She was still going to do her duty, but ... unconventionally. "I will consent, but ONLY under certain conditions—"

"Which are?"

"Everything we do, happens in my house, under my rules—"

"This is my country—" Izumi shot back.

"My house and businesses are all Earth Kingdom property, unfortunately. Second condition: no one can know you're seeing me, and nobody can know our children are yours,"

"Why?"

"Because I will not have them labeled bastards or you labeled a common whore—" Masaru explained.

"But—"

"That is my final decision," Masaru said firmly.

Izumi gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. "Fine!" Izumi said with a disgruntled sigh. "Is that all?"

"Only one more. We will raise him or her, or them together. I am not allowed to take them out of the city, and you are not allowed to take them into the castle, for safety purposes. If the Fire Sages find out, they may have the children killed."

Izumi sighed. _Masaru is right._ "I accept your terms." she said looking up at him expectantly.

Masaru stood and walked over to her. _Why did he seem taller? Maybe it was the business suit._ She was so used to seeing him in casual sparring clothes when they were young, and then that one time in his army uniform on the day he saw her in her wedding gown fitting and left.

He had been a teenage boy then. Now he was a man.

Masaru extended a hand to Izumi. "But before we do get started, I'd like to give you a tour of the place. I know you've been here before, but you haven't really had the opportunity to explore and I'm sure it would be handy to know all of the escape routes in the off chance there is an emergency." Masaru said calmly. Izumi took his hand and felt a shiver run up her spine and spread throughout her body. She bit her lip to keep from grinning like a girl. _FINALLY!_

Masaru's estate was about a fifth the size of the royal palace and the second largest piece of property owned by a single person in the Fire Nation Capital. He showed her the kitchens, the servant's quarters, the game room, the theatre, the ballroom, dining areas, tea room, parlors, library, guest rooms, then finally— the resident's sector.

"Children's rooms," he said opening a few doors. "They've never been used," he added with a sad sigh looking at the four poster canopy beds draped in fire nation red with golden tassels hanging from the corners, Fire Nation flame hanging one wall in each room. "Everything can be rearranged or redecorated if you don't like it. The house can be expanded easily if needed," he said moving on.

Izumi wanted to stay forever at Masaru's estate and never return to the palace. Though still painted red and still rather dark, the estate felt more comfortable than the royal palace. Maybe it was the striking lack of imperial guards, maids, servants, generals, and politicians lurking around. It felt so safe. Izumi wouldn't need to constantly watch her back, watch her words, and maintain a her composure. Occasionally one earthbender and one firebender would pass, as they made their security rounds up and down the corridors, but other than that, there was nobody.

Then at last, Masaru came to the door at the end of the hall. "My room," he said, letting go of her hand to open it.

It was a rather spacious room with a king size four poster bed in the center of it, like the royal rooms at the palace. On the wall backing the headboard, there were couple of antique weapons hung up. Flanking the bed were two tapestries, one of a dragon and one of a badgermole. It was honestly the first time Izumi had ever seen Masaru acknowledge that half of his identity without being bitter. Then on the wall facing the bed, he hung a tapestry of his hometown of Gaoling.

"It's nice, but there are no flames like the children's' rooms." Izumi observed.

"The flames are simply placeholders. I simply couldn't stand the overwhelming emptiness I felt every time I saw the bare walls. They made the children's rooms look like prison cells. As each child grows, he or she will put up whatever they feel like collecting on their walls. I want it to be like a canvas," Masaru said walking over to the wall covered in weapons. The centerpiece, was a pair of hammers.

"Hammers that I will never be able to wield. Only an earthbender could," he said sadly. "I've used the swords," he said a bit more positively. "Your father gave them to me when I was sixteen."

"I never knew," Izumi said coming up beside him, wanting to put her arm around his waist, but not quite sure if it was her place.

"He is a kind man; I admire him dearly," Masaru said.

"He is." Izumi agreed. She looked around. _Yes, the walls were nice, but…_ "Where do you keep your clothing?" Izumi asked, eager to find a laundry basket and to see him take off his.

"Here. There's a closet," he said, firebending into a hole in the wall and revealing a secret door to an expansive room lined with racks of suits and robes.

Izumi's eyes widened. "That is incredible!" she ran over and into it. "Why did you flush it with the wall?"

"As a child, I was afraid of monsters in the wardrobe, believe it or not. I thought, just in case my children were too, and they slept with me, it would make sense to hide the closets so they didn't keep me up at night kicking," Masaru explained.

He walked over to another space of wall. "The loo is through here. It opens the same way," he said firebending into a flame shaped wall decoration to show her another secret door in the wall revealing a light bathroom with a large stained glass window. "We've installed a double vanity so if you want to bring any powders or whatever women wear nowadays, there is space," Masaru said.

"I don't bother with any of those," Izumi informed him. "I let Mother and Iliana deal with my face when they feel the urge to."

Izumi touched the clean counters of the bathroom and looked in the mirror at herself then to Masaru noticing him walking away from her.

"Wait! But aren't we going to—" Izumi said running after him. He turned and grabbed her wrist before she could touch his shoulder. She shrunk back and he let go.

"Sorry," he said genuinely, letting go of her wrist and running his hand through his hair. "I'm just not used to having such...pleasant company for the night. Or really anyone I could actually talk to. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten your intentions," he said taking off his jacket.

She waited. Should she disrobe on her own too or would he disrobe her? She usually hid under the covers until Hisoki came with the entourage that ensured she didn't burn him. Sometimes she just kept everything on and he removed what he needed to. Sometimes he took her in the hallways, quickly on his way to meetings much to her discomfort and inconvenience.

Izumi watched curiously as Masaru took his time undoing the buttons on the cuffs of his sleeves. Then he undid his jacket and hung it up, then his vest and cast it aside into a basket and finally pulled his shirt out of his trousers and unbuttoned that as well.

"Are you just going to stand there watching, Zumi?" Masaru asked seeing her eyes in the reflection of the blades of one of his swords.

"I—Sorry, I wasn't sure what would be appropriate-" Izumi said nervously turning away, feeling heat coming to her cheeks.

"Appropriate," he laughed. "Nothing about this encounter is appropriate given the circumstances but what do we care at this point? We're here now, and have your parents approval. So relax, why won't you. Make yourself at home. I promise I won't hurt you."

"You won't?" she asked looking up at him, surprised. She knew he loved her and that he was the kindest person in the world that she knew, but no pain? That was possible?

"I won't. You know me, Izumi. I would NEVER hurt you," he said turning to face her. She shied away. "Did _he_?" Masaru asked while walking over to Izumi, noticing the apprehension in her body language.

She said nothing but tried and failed miserably to collect herself.

"Did he hurt you?" Masaru repeated a little more sternly.

"Mother says it's because I didn't love him," Izumi said, still gazing at the floor.

Masaru lifted her chin with a gentile nudge of his index finger.

"No, it has nothing to do with who you love. If he really cared, he wouldn't have hurt you," Masaru said, his eyes narrowing as he gazed into hers, as if he were reading her mind. He touched her lower lip and wrapped his other arm around her waist.

"What are you doing?" she asked quickly, putting her arm between them, not used to embracing anyone but her parents.

"I want you to enjoy this too. Just trust me, Izumi" he said lowering his face onto hers, kissing her.

She tested the feeling, then pushed away and wrapped her arms around herself. "Sorry," she said looking away.

"I swear you're being more coy than a virgin," Masaru told her.

"How do you know? Have you fucked many virgins?" Izumi asked anxiously, still with her arms wrapped around herself.

"Not many, but quite a few," Masaru confessed.

She frowned.

"Don't be surprised. Like you, I tried to have a life when we learned we couldn't be together, but I never found anybody I liked, let alone loved. What do you find so concerning, Izumi?"

"I don't know!" she yelled waving her arms once before letting them drop to her sides before folding them again. "I just don't know what you're doing! I thought you were going to-"

"-just fuck you? I would never. I am going to love you, Izumi. All you have to do is trust me. Let down those fiery walls. I want to show you what 'trying' truly means," he said.

"Fine." Izumi said unfolding her arms.

Masaru stepped towards her again. He removed her traveling cloak and let it fall to the floor then flipped her robes off her shoulders revealing her perfectly round yet taut young breasts.

"If looking only at your chest, one would have never been able to guess you've ever fed a baby," he said with a smile covering one of her warm breasts with his hand. She gasped and wrapped a hand around his wrist.

What was that feeling?

He didn't squeeze her but massaged the tender flesh, occasionally running his thumb over her soft nipple until it hardened into a small peak while his other hand caressed her neck, and his mouth covered her lips.

She reached over with her free hand and touched his muscular chest curiously then pulled away.

"I'm sorry! I want it, I just don't know what I'm doing!" she said walking a few paces away again.

"Then I'll wait and when you're ready, I'll be here," he said casually walking over to the bed. He flopped down on it on his back just like they both did they were children and used to nap together after bending practice.

She watched him just lay there, not pushing her or pulling her in any way that made her uncomfortable. She was almost mad. How long would it take to just 'show her how to love'? She walked over, with her gown still hanging on her waist, her traveling cloak on the floor and flopped down next to him on her back and just lay there. "I don't understand. You said you were going to love me and then you just walked away?" she asked, feeling somewhat hurt and slightly betrayed.

"Loving you includes waiting until you are ready to do the same. I don't want you to be uncomfortable or apprehensive or afraid to be with me. Love takes trust, Izumi," Masaru replied with his hands folded neatly over his bare chest as he looked up at the canopy, breathing slowly. "I know your head trusts me, but your body is still afraid."

It made so much sense. Maybe Masaru was right. Maybe Izumi wasn't quite ready. She just never had anyone acknowledge that was even a possibility until now. Everything she had to do was just duty. She never had the choice to wait. All the pain she endured was just a necessary sacrifice for collective gain.

"So what have you been up to, in the last three years, Saru?" she asked, deciding to try this 'waiting' business, wondering if she would ever be able to lay with a man without being so afraid.

"Reflecting," he replied simply.

"Reflecting on what?" Izumi pressed.

"What exactly I want to do with my life," he replied.

"And what is that?"

"To not be so alone," he replied.

Izumi looked up. Alone. Wasn't that feeling familiar?

"During a recent trip to the Earthen Fire Headquarters in Republic City, I discovered I had a sister. And if my rudimentary math stills are correct, we share both a mother and father," Masaru said breaking the moment of contemplative silence.

"Lin Beifong," Izumi replied.

"Of course you'd know her," he said with a sad sort of jealousy.

"She's my best friend. Well, she and Kya both are, I guess. You've heard of the Avatar's daughter, right?"

"I know of Kya of the Southern Water Tribe, and of Bumi," Masaru replied looking moving his hands to behind his head. "Why didn't you ever tell me about my sister?"

"I knew you wouldn't hear it," Izumi replied.

"What do you mean?" Masaru asked.

"You hated your mother for not coming after you when you were five years old. What she saw as letting you be free to pursue your dreams, by not chaining you up in the yard of the Beifong Estate in Gaoling, you interpreted as neglect and abandonment. She just wanted you to be happy in your element of fire. She just wanted you to be free.

"Every time my mother brought up yours, you shut her down. You rejected your Earth Kingdom Heritage. Claimed there to be a mistake. You so adamantly spoke of being only Fire Nation. So the both of us also stopped trying. We honestly didn't know how you'd react to your sister, but didn't want to hurt you, so we held back."

"Oh. I guess that makes a lot of sense now."

"Do you want to go meet her?"

"I don't know if now's the right time. She's kind of— at odds both with our mother and our half-sister. I don't want to give her another reason to hate mother for not telling her about me,"

"That's very sensitive of you," Izumi replied.

There was another pause.

"Can I tell you a secret, Izumi?" Masaru asked.

"What kind of secret?" she asked, rolling onto her side propping her head up on one arm, completely forgetting she was half-naked.

"I too have a secret army, like you. I have them trailing both Lin and Suyin, to keep them safe— well as safe as they can without either girl noticing."

"That's very kind of you," Izumi said tentatively placing a hand on his muscular bicep.

"I'm glad you think so," Masaru replied pretending to not notice, but internally, swelling. "It was the only thing I could think of doing to make up for abandoning them in my youth."

"You didn't abandon them. You left before either of them were conceived. You couldn't have known then what you would be missing. Don't feel guilty. You have a good heart."

"You don't think it's creepy for me to be essentially spying on them at all times?"

"You have good reason to. You love them and want them to be safe. I understand."

"Good, because I also have a division of my army trailing you." Masaru mused gazing up at the canopy.

"WHAT?!" Izumi asked, jumping out of bed with her hands on her hips, not caring that she was topless.

Masaru sat up lazily. "I know how strong you are as a bender, a diplomat, and a Princess, and you take great pride in not needing anyone's protection, but you have always been and always will be the love of my life and if anything serious happened to you, I would never forgive myself. I am selfish for doing this behind your back and you have every right to be angry with me for not telling, but I needed assurance that you were as safe as can be just to get through every morning."

Izumi flopped down on the edge of the bed again, processing his words. She covered her face in regret. "I should have NEVER trusted Hisoki! I should have just disbanded the Fire Sages even if that meant burning the temples to the ground and just stayed with you!"

"Why?" Masaru asked, appalled by the outburst.

"Because you actually care about me, and not just my fertility." she replied angrily falling on her back with her hands behind her head. "All he cared about was fulfilling his obligation to impregnate me. I wasn't a human being to him, only a trophy. And to the Fire Sages, a piece of cattle raised for breeding."

"I'm sorry you had to endure such a horrible thing," Masaru said, placing a hand on her stomach, just over her belly button. He could span her waist with his hands. She was so powerful yet looked so small and delicate, almost fragile there in his large bed. "But I don't ever want you to feel like cattle again and even if you think it is what you need me to do, I want to love you."

"Then do it," Izumi said with furrowed brows, not looking at him but the ceiling.

"Do you trust me?" Masaru asked, sliding his hand to her waistband.

"Completely," Izumi replied, unmoving.

"Then close your eyes," Masaru said.

* * *

She relaxed her brows and her frown, and took a deep breath before closing her eyes.

...

* * *

"If you're ready, I am," he said beginning to untie his waistband, but waiting.

"I am," she said confidently.

"Then close your eyes," he said again.

"Why now?"

"Because frankly, Princess. I believe you have seen enough horrors in your young lifetime and don't need to add my cock to it," he replied. Izumi wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, but remained silent. "You can open your eyes now."

He was already straddling her. She was a bit disappointed. She'd seen his chest growing up during almost daily, but never the thing between his legs that were now concealed between her own.

She reached up and curled her wrist around the back of his neck and pulled him into a kiss. He leaned forward and put an arm around the back of her shoulders.

...

"Are you okay?" He asked noticing her gritted teeth and her eyes scrunch up slightly as she tried to decipher what exactly she was feeling.

"Mhm-" She barely managed to say as he kept pushing. "-Ow!"

He pulled out immediately.

"No don't stop, I think— I just— it didn't hurt at all going in, but I don't think I can accommodate- everything-" she paused and looked up at him with worry, but his face was completely calm and understanding.

"I'm sorry for hurting you. I didn't mean to. I'll be more careful." he said. "We can stop for tonight-"

"NO!" she said hooking her ankles, locking her legs around his waist so he couldn't escape her now. He turned to her, shocked.

She released her legs too, startled by her own reaction, looking away, embarrassed with herself.

"I want you," she confessed. "I want this."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

...

"What was _that_?" she asked breathlessly, at the end.

"I think _that_ was your first orgasm, dear, and my first one in a long time,"

"What is an orgasm?"

"Really, nobody ever taught you any of these things?" he asked with disbelief.

"I don't think the Fire Sages thought it was necessary for a Princess to enjoy copulation," Izumi explained, trying to calm down and slow her breathing. "So it never became part of the curriculum in my training."

"Well I believe it is necessary for a Princess to enjoy everything, lest the nation suffer under her volatile rage," Masaru replied.

Izumi smiled. He was right. When she became too annoyed, or angry, she became rash, dangerous, and her decision making suffered. "Can I stay here for tonight? I don't know why but I feel just— exhausted and don't want to go back to the Palace,"

"Don't be surprised. You just had the first real fuck of your life. Of course you're exhausted. And of course you can stay the night, Izumi. I'll send word to your parents so they know where to send the carriage in the morning," Masaru said standing up, completely recovered, pulling on a robe and heading to the phone in his office, leaving her there, panting.

* * *

The next morning Izumi ducked into the carriage under cloak and rode into the palace through the servant's entrance.

"Mother, Father!" Izumi yelled, running into the breakfast room where Iroh was sitting on his grandmother's lap and not on his own chair. Izumi beamed.

"I take it you had an enjoyable evening," Mai said, feeding Iroh.

"How can you tell?" Izumi asked breathless with excitement, sitting down next to her mother easily without any pain between her legs, only a slight numbness.

"Two indicators. The first, you didn't return at all last night, and the second, you're smiling, and lately you've been smiling nearly as much as me," Mai explained clearly.

"Oh," Izumi laughed. "Then I guess it was enjoyable," she said skeptically as she moved Iroh to her lap.

While Izumi was distracted with Iroh, Mai leaned over to Zuko and whispered "Thank you. We're doing the right thing."

"I hope so," Zuko replied pensively.

At the end of breakfast, Izumi was still smiling.

"I'm going to take my son to work on his sparring with his Uncle Saru."

* * *

 **Sorry about this second to last scene. I just thought it was necessary to show Izumi's dedication to her role as Princess and duty to have children, but also to show how Masaru is a very kind and moral man who has always been looking out for Izumi (her reputation when they were children, her safety when he couldn't physically be by her side every second of every day, and the reputation of hers and his unborn children). He will never intentionally hurt her and does his best to love and support her in the way she deserves. (MASUMI IS MY NEW FLAGSHIP GUYS!(if it wasn't already obvious) XD**


	20. Takeo's Birth

**Takeo's Birth (139AG)**

Izumi hid her pregnancy well after deciding nobody needed to know about her private life. She remained by her father's side during war meetings and ministry meetings, wearing particularly baggy robes with large shoulder armor right up until delivery. She was surprised with how well she managed the early contractions until the very end of the last meeting of the day. As soon as the doors to the throne room closed behind the last general, Izumi spoke.

"Father, he's coming," she whispered taking a deep, slow breath with her fists closed over her knees.

Zuko turned to Iliana who always came for the Princess after such meetings. "Quickly! Summon Master Akira and the business man, Masaru!" Zuko ordered.

"Yes, My Lord!" Iliana said sprinting to the infirmary.

Zuko personally helped his daughter to the birthing room, meeting Mai and Masaru there.

"I swear to god, if I ever renovate this palace, I am going to make it much smaller!" Izumi muttered as they helped her to bed. "Everything is so… fucking… far…" she said reeling with pain.

"Sorry, love," Mai said dabbing her head with a wet cloth.

"I promise, I will do ANYTHING I can to help," Masaru whispered in her ear before kissing her temple.

"She's only about two centimeters dilated, so at the moment, you can only wait," Master Akira said readying tubs of water, cool cloths for the Princess's head, and the blankets and cloths to clean the coming babe. The healers monitored Izumi very closely, constantly checking for any distress. They even invited a bloodbender in case the umbilical cord became wrapped around the unborn baby's neck.

"Any distress?" Mai asked after a few hours of waiting anxiously.

"No, My Lady," Master Akira said swirling water around Izumi's belly, trying to ease the pain. "He is properly oriented, head down, nothing in the way… It should be an easy birth,"

"I didn't realize that was a thing," Masaru chuckled, biting his lip nervously as he held Izumi's left hand while Mai held her right, and Zuko sat by her side with a hand next to her hip, not quite knowing where he should be, or where she hurt the most, but wanting to provide support in some way.

Izumi glared at him, and he instantly replaced his grin with a more stern expression remembering the last time Izumi gave birth and feeling a pang of guilt flood his being.

A little while later, the baby was finally crowning. "You're alright, Princess. Everything is going to be okay, push on my count," Akira said.

Both Mai and Masaru could practically watch as the trauma flashed before the front of Izumi's mind. She fell into a panic. Her breathing became ragged and irregular with her heartbeat accelerating rapidly.

"I can't!" Izumi gasped.

Mai and Masaru turned to face each other then Izumi again. They could see the panic fill her eyes.

"You got this!" Masaru yelled. "You've done it before, Zumzu! You can do it again!"

"Zuko, her hair-" Mai said nervously as it began to streak blue. "Akira! She's burning," Mai shrieked, mortified, letting go of Izumi's burning arm.

An assisting healer rushed over to treat the Fire Lady's burnt hands.

"I can't!" Izumi screamed hyperventilating.

"Princess you need to calm down-" Akira begged, reaching for her, but flinching back, away from the heat emanating from the distressed Princess's body. In a flash, all of her hair turned blue and her hand holding Masaru caught on fire, as she lost her sense of self in the fit of panic.

Masaru looked around quickly. Here goes nothing, he thought as he placed his left hand on her swollen belly, keeping his right hand intertwined in her left, using his own firebending to keep her flame and heat from burning him. He felt and mapped every electrical pathway in her body.

"Akira! Count for me!" Masaru yelled.

"What is he?!" Akira asked.

"JUST TRUST ME!" Masaru yelled.

"Three… Two… One…"

Masaru closed his eyes and took over the electrical signalling in Izumi's lower body and forced all of the muscles in her vagina to contract. Izumi screamed as she felt baby's head came out.

"One more!" Akira said putting her hand into Izumi's vagina to help turn the child.

"No!" Izumi cried panting through sweat and tears.

Akira ignored her and counted down. Masaru sent another wave of dark lightning through her body effectively forcing her to push again and the baby came out.

"Saru-" Mai gasped looking up with her hands encased in ice where her daughter's skin burned her at him as he quickly removed his hand from Izumi's belly, leaving no mark at all. Maybe dark lightning wasn't such a bad thing.

Izumi was panting. Her hair darkened, but she was still panicking. A healer put a cool rag on her head.

Zuko was in shock. "That makes three," he whispered thinking about the dark lightning. Hisoki used it to paralyze his daughter. Azula used it to verify her pregnancy with Iroh, and now Masaru used it to deliver their baby.

There was a gurgle and a sputter and then wailing.

"And a prince is born!" Akira said cheerfully.

"He's not a prince," Zuko corrected Akira with a sadness in his tone. "But he will be... someday... when things change." he said turning to his daughter expectantly.

Izumi was too weak to even lift her head or acknowledge anything that was happening at this point.

"Will her skin burn his body?" Masaru asked as Akira approached Izumi with the baby.

"Not if he's a firebender," Akira said.

"Then don't put him on her. Not yet!" Masaru said. "I don't want to risk hurting him!" Masaru said looking at Izumi's still blue hair.

"Zumi! Zumi listen to me!" He begged holding her hand tightly. "You're fine! Everything is fine. He is safe. _Our son_ is safe. He is breathing. He is screaming. He needs you, Izumi! He needs you to come back to us, to calm down. YOU ARE BOTH SAFE! So cool down." He said holding her hand as she cried. "Please... Breathe, Love," he said. Izumi gasped for air. "Slowly," he reminded her. She took a deep breath and her hair darkened. A second and it was almost black again. "You cannot hold the boy until you cool down. You don't want to hurt him, right?" Masaru said letting go of her hand to take the slimy lump of life from Akira and show Izumi. "See?" he asked presenting the mushy little newborn to her with shaking hands.

Izumi smiled at the sight of him and her hair turned black again.

"Zuko, can you check her temperature?" Mai asked giving her hands to a healer to get the ice melted off.

"She should be safe," Zuko said checking Izumi's arm and neck temperature.

Masaru verified and Izumi reached for her new son.

Masaru placed the baby onto her bare chest and she started crying.

Masaru kept a hand on Izumi's forehead and they all moved towards the headboard of the birthing bed so the healers could clean the baby in Izumi's arms.

"What will you call him?" Akira asked.

Izumi looked up at Masaru to answer for her.

"Takeo," he said. "Bastard or not, he will have a great name and we will teach him to love his country and make him want to defend all that is good and right, just like his parents, in whatever capacity he is able."

Akira smiled.

Izumi held her hand to the back of the baby's head she tucked under her chin, feeling his little warm body against her bare skin. She said nothing. She didn't need to. She and 'Saru had already discussed names ahead of time. They already discussed everything, including legitimizing her son someday, when the time was right. Until then, they would hide him from their enemies in the Fire Sages' Temples in plain sight. He would bear Masaru's last name, live in Masaru's estate most of the time, and go to school like every other child, and never know the loneliness of Palace Life.


	21. Iroh's Question

**Iroh's Question (140AG)**  
Masaru always stayed in Azula's sector of the palace when he came over. It was the only place where no guards were allowed to go where they could hide all of their family secrets. Masaru was helping Iroh practice some of his firebending forms when the boy stopped.

"Is something wrong?" Masaru asked the young prince with a compassionate expression of sympathy.

"Uncle Saru," Iroh asked walking over fearlessly, loving his 'uncle' greatly.

"Yes Prince Iroh?"

"Can I ask you a question?" the six-year-old boy asked sadly. Izumi, walking across the platform on the second floor across the way with Takeo on her hip stopped to listen.

"Of course! Anything! What is on your mind, my little prince?" Masaru asked sitting on the bench directly below where he had seen Izumi pause, out of his peripherals.

"Do you think my Mother hates me?" Iroh asked.

Izumi clapped her hand over her mouth in shock. _NO! Why would he think such a thing. Did I do something wrong? Did I look at him cruelly or say something?_ She asked herself. She could feel her heat rising. _STOP! CALM DOWN ZUMI!_ She yelled at herself, remembering Takeo was on her hip, and having to remind herself that until they knew he was a firebender and could handle her heat, she had to be EXTREMELY careful in containing her ability and remaining in control at all times, of everything.

"NO! How could you think such a thing? Prince Iroh!" Masaru asked accusingly.

"It's just that- I have this feeling that Mother didn't like Father and I am his and not yours.. And I guess… I thought… just… well… what if I remind her of him? What if…."

"You don't," Masaru said dead seriously, frightening the boy slightly for good measure with a particularly low tone of voice to emphasize his point before relaxing slightly. "You are **NOTHING** like your father, just how Fire Lord Zuko is **NOTHING** like his father, former Fire Lord Ozai who came before him. You are _good_ , Iroh. You are good, and your mother loves you to the end of the world and back. She would do _anything_ for you. You are her first born son, and I know this won't make any sense at all to you but you created the very heart she carries in her chest now."

Iroh looked up at him eyes wide with bewilderment as he tried to understand. Masaru tried to clarify. "You gave her the strength to continue living in this very difficult-to-navigate world especially for someone in her position. You are her true love, Iroh."

"What about you?"

"I am **just** a man doing my duty to my country: keeping you and your mother safe and warm as you navigate this crazy world." Masaru answered simply.

"And you're okay with that?" Iroh asked with the most adorable furrowed brows.

"Absolutely!" Masaru said.

"You're sure she doesn't hate me?"

"Certain of it! Frankly, I don't think your mother could truly hate anyone anymore. After all she's struggled to get through, she understands that everyone is fighting their own battles inside, where no one sees, and everyone deserves sympathy and mercy."

"So you're saying she doesn't even hate my father, Hisoki?" Iroh asked.

"No. She understands he was hurt, angry that the Fire Sages were using him. The Fire Sages were using _both_ of them to carry on some stupid tradition." Masaru explained.

"Oh."

"But Iroh, listen to me, if it makes you feel any better, please know that you will always belong to your mother and she will always love you. AND, now that your mother sort of belongs to me, you are sort of my son too, and I promise I will always love you, and do anything I can to help you just as I would for any of my blood children." Masaru said kneeling before the little prince.

"Really?" Iroh asked looking down at him.

Izumi was crying with joy as she listened, trying to remain silent as Takeo frowned at her with one raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Masaru said. Iroh slid off the bench and hugged his 'Uncle Saru'.

"If you said you would do ANYTHING for me," Iroh began to say mischievously.

 _Uh oh!_ Thought Izumi. You've done it now, Saru!"

"Can you teach me how to redirect lightning?!" Iroh asked excitedly, all fears and insecurities practically gone from the child's mind.

Masaru smiled.

 _I SAID NO!_ Izumi screamed internally. _NO! We've talked about this! He's too young!_

"Now, now," Masaru said in a condescending tone. "Lightning generation is one of the most dangerous skills a firebender can learn, and lightning redirection, even more difficult to master. Get one thing wrong, and you could be DESTROYED!" Masaru said gravely as the boy listened wide eyed. "But I think you're ready." he said casually.

Izumi almost screamed and revealed herself, but instead just held onto Takeo and turned in a circle on the walkway with her hand over her mouth.

"Really?" Iroh asked truly surprised. "But Mother said I couldn't learn until I was ten years old!"

"Really?" Masaru asked feigning surprise, knowing perfectly well that Izumi was extremely protective of her children and didn't want them trying such dangerous maneuvers so early. "Did you know your beloved mother started shooting me with lightning when she was four years old without any regard for my safety, so your namesake had to teach me to redirect lightning when I was five?" Masaru asked the boy.

Izumi made a note to kill Masaru later, but not now. Not until he actually committed a crime.

"REALLY?!" Iroh asked with great interest.

"Yes!"

"Why would she do that if it is so dangerous?"

"She thought it was fun," Masaru shrugged. "And don't worry about her getting mad at you. What she doesn't know can't hurt her, can it? Just do exactly as I say, and don't get injured!" Masaru said.

 _NO! He isn't actually going to teach him this, and demonstrate? Oh shit he's going to shoot my baby!_ Izumi said pacing.

"Relax, Princess," Azula said appearing, putting a calming hand on her dear niece's shoulder. "Saru won't harm the Prince, and if he does, don't worry. I'll kill him and spare you the blood," Azula offered. Izumi smiled at her gratefully and watched he lover and her son begin training.

"Before we can deal with lightning we must first understand how the energy flows within our own bodies, and the best way to learn that is by studying waterbending," Masaru said showing Iroh the motions as the boy watched wide-eyed and completely captivated by everything Masaru was saying and doing.

After a few minutes, Masaru stepped back and just watched six-year-old Iroh practicing the motion. Masaru corrected his hands and legs and watched a bit longer then finally said "I think you're ready to try it."

Izumi almost screamed but Azula covered her mouth, Takeo still watched her with his little furrowed brows.

"If anyone is going to shoot your son with lightning, it should be Saru. He can control the electricity at a greater range with greater precision AND keep it away from the boy's heart regardless of the child's technique," Azula reassured Izumi. "Remember, he delivered your baby." Azula touched the one year old's nose. Izumi turned and looked at him too, kissed his head, and returned her gaze to Iroh and Masaru.

"Ready?" Masaru asked.

"Ready!" Iroh replied.

Masaru sent an extremely low voltage lightning bolt at the boy, and the boy redirected it to the sky.

"Good!" Masaru said.

"Really?" Iroh asked jumping up clapping his hands.

Masaru nodded.

Izumi let out a sigh of relief.

"How do you feel?" Masaru asked.

"Powerful!" Iroh said beaming.

"And you should, but remember, with great power comes…"

"...great responsibility." Iroh finished

Masaru nodded. "Yep. You have to be careful," he reminded the boy, charging up for another lightning strike.

This time, Iroh let it pass through him but missed the sky and hit the courtyard catwalk behind him almost striking Izumi and Takeo, but Zumi managed to roll aside.

"Good technique, but watch your aim, Love," Izumi said pulling herself to her feet again, wiping dust off of Takeo's irate face.

"MOTHER?!" Iroh whirled around, mortified as Masaru started cackling with laughter, knowing she had been there the entire time.

Izumi merely smiled proudly and adjusted Takeo on her hip.

The shock and fear of reprimanding on Iroh's face turned into a wide grin when he finally began to believe she wasn't angry. She was proud.

"I thought you would be afraid of me hurting myself," Iroh confessed when she joined them down in the courtyard.

"I thought I would be too, but then I realized just how absolutely miserable it is to live fearing everything all the time. Fear is not at all necessary to go through life-" Izumi began to say.

"But great Aunt Azula says fear is the only reliable way!" Iroh protested.

Izumi turned and frowned at her aunt who still stood on the balcony watching them all with great pride.

"It isn't the only way. Respect is. Respect the power any and every action has over your surroundings and act accordingly. Do not do unto others something you do not wish done unto you. While I was growing up, my parents _always_ feared for my safety. They worried I would be targeted for bullying if I went to the Royal Academy for girls, an elite Fire Nation School where all the princesses before me were forced to go. They feared the children of those formerly loyal to Ozai would try to break me. They made my entire education contained within these palace walls. For me, learning felt like nothing but limitations. I will not do the same to you. I will not restrict you in a way that will inhibit your growth. I want you to learn what you want, just… safely, okay?" Izumi asked.

Iroh nodded.

"If you want to learn anything with firebending, you know you can ask, me, Uncle Saru, and even aunt Azula no matter how scary the history books make her seem. She is a really nice lady now, honestly! And she would love to teach you," Izumi said genuinely.

"Thank you, Mother," Iroh said hugging her.

"No, thank you, for being so curious and unafraid to ask questions, Iroh," Izumi replied, kissing him on both cheeks.

"Now if you excuse me, I think Takeo is getting hungry," Izumi said as the one year old started tugging at her collar.

"You go have fun, love, I got Iroh," Masaru said kissing Izumi on the lips quickly.

"Thank you, so much!" Izumi said before running off.


	22. Rikuto's Discovery

**145AG**  
Izumi had never seen Iroh run down the secret tunnel that fast before to get to Masaru's Estate. He had just finished an incredibly rare firebending lesson with his grandfather and couldn't wait to share what he learned with his little brothers.

"KEYOO! KUTO! SAAAA-SUKE!" the eleven-year-old yelled as he flew up the steps and out the door into the main courtyard of the lavish estate.

"Iroh!" his little brothers cheered, rushing over to greet him.

"Guys, I have something to show you!" Iroh yelled. "Check out this new form my grandfather taught me! It is called the Dragon Dance! He says someday, I may be able to MEET the dragons Ran and Sha and show them the dance and if it is good enough, and they deem me worthy, they will teach me the secrets of firebending!"

"REALLY?" four-year-old Rikuto asked. "REAL DRAGONS? THEY STILL EXIST?!"

"I thought the Dragon of the West, Great," six-year-old Takeo paused to think. "GREAT Uncle Iroh slayed the last dragon!"

"He was lying! He did that to protect them from all of the blood-thirsty, honor-craving firebenders at the time!" eleven-year-old Iroh explained with the widest grin and the brightest eyes she had ever seen on him.

"Grandfather Zuko and Avatar Aang and Mother and Uncle Saru all learned from the dragons!" Iroh yelled.

The younger boys turned to their mother who finally emerged from the tunnel.

"You learned from the dragons tooooooo?" Rikuto asked.

Izumi smiled and winked at him, neither confirming or denying the fact explicitly as she picked up two-year-old Sasuke.

"So are you going to teach us the form or just show it?" Takeo asked.

"First, I will show it, then I will teach it!" Iroh said.

"Okay!" Takeo said grabbing Rikuto's hand on his way to the edge of the courtyard to get out of the way which was standard procedure for anyone's bending demonstration for safety purposes.

Izumi sat next to Masaru on the marble bench with Sasuke on her lap while Rikuto and Takeo kneeled, waiting for Iroh.

He took his first stance with his hands together and one leg bent, with his toe tucked just behind the knee of the standing leg.

"Look familiar?" Izumi whispered in Masaru's ear as Iroh began the form.

He kissed her cheek in response.

After Iroh finished the form, he waved for his little brothers to join him.

Takeo and Rikuto ran over immediately. They worshipped Iroh, and would do anything he asked. Even Sasuke wiggled himself free of Izumi's grip, also wanting to get in on the action. The boys surprised both parents with their determination to get the form just right, synchronized, and even mirrored. Iroh did it with Takeo, and Rikuto with Sasuke.

"I have never known a two-year-old to have that attention span," Izumi said, watching Sasuke pound out rep after rep of the fundamental firebending form.

"I have," Masaru replied casually.

"Really? Who?"

"You," he replied, offering Izumi a cup of tea and kissing her forehead as he sat down beside her.

Izumi smiled. "Only because I was forced to," she said sadly.

Just then there was a thud and then crying.

Izumi looked up in shock, terror closing in on her heart for an instant as she

Sasuke was on the ground, crying with grass on his face and dirt on his bloodied nose.

"Huh?" Rikuto dropped by his side. "Sasuke! Sasuke! I'm sorry! Sasukee!" Rikuto cried, shaking his brother.

"What happened?" Izumi said rushing over, scooping Sasuke off the ground, wiping the blood off on the crimson sleeves of her rather opulent gown.

"I'm sorry!" Rikuto kept apologizing, crying as well.

"What did you do?" Masaru asked as gently as possible, placing a hand on his small son's tiny shoulder.

Rikuto slid to the side and revealed a little ripple in the ground. "I didn't mean to!" Rikuto cried throwing himself into his father's arms.

"Does this mean Kuto is an earthbender?" Iroh asked looking at the ground, eyes wide with shock.

"But… but… I don't want to be an earthbender! I want to be a firebender like Mother and Father!" Rikuto cried.

"But being an earth bender is sooooooo cool! You can sneak up on people and dig tunnels and make yourself REALLY tall and build houses AND… AND…" Iroh said in an attempt to lift his little brother's spirits. "And maybe the badgermoles can teach you the secret of YOUR element too!"

"But there aren't even badgermoles in the Fire Nation! They can't tunnel or they'll get burned by the volcanoes!"

"Then you can learn from an earthbender!"

This made Rikuto only sob harder. By this time, Sasuke had recovered and sat quietly nestled in his mother's lap there on the grass while Rikuto continued to bawl his tiny eyes out in his father's lap.

Masaru turned to Izumi who looked just as lost. How do you console a boy who felt so out of place and alone-

"Kuto! Rikuto! Listen to me!" Masaru said picking the boy up by the torso and holding him out in front of him, four inches off the ground.

Rikuto stopped crying and hung limp.

"Do you know who I am?" Masaru asked the young boy.

Rikuto frowned. Was this a trick question?

"Kuto?" Masaru asked with a certain seriousness in his voice.

"My father?" Rikuto guessed.

"My name is Masaru Lee, and I am the son of Toph Beifong, the greatest earthbender in the entire world, and Satoru Lee, a pioneering engineer in aviation, and the former owner of the Fire Nation half of Earthen Fire Refineries," Masaru said to his son.

"What?" Rikuto asked thinking back to all of his parent's bedtime stories about how Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko helped save the world and end the war with the Fire Nation with their friends, Katara and Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, Suki of Kyoshi Island, and Toph Beifong from Gaoling. "But aren't they like… famous? Why aren't you famous too?"

"Because, Rikuto, I ran away. I ran away and never bore the Beifong name."

"Why?" Rikuto exclaimed.

"Because I too once felt so out of place and afraid. I was born in Gaoling to the legendary, blind woman who taught the Avatar Earthbending, invented metalbending, and founded Republic City's Police. There were no firebenders there where I came from. In fact, in that isolated village, people hated my non-bending Father because he was ethnically Fire Nation. The Fire Nation had just been defeated after a century of ruthlessly burning and annexing territories, and here I was with the power to cause that same type of destruction. I was so afraid that if I didn't learn to at least control my bending, I would end up accidentally burning and hurting my friends or my family. So I ran away,"

"Does this mean I should run away away to find an earthbending teacher?"

"NO!" Masaru yelled, mentally punching himself in the face. "That is not what I am saying at all! I made a mistake in leaving. I didn't know then, but I know now, that no one element is better than another. Yes, you live in the Fire Nation, and sure, it may be difficult to find you a teacher, but it is not impossible."

"I am sorry for being such an inconvenience," Rikuto sighed.

"You're not an inconvenience! You're our son and we would do anything for you. Just because you bend earth does not make your worth any less than that of your brothers and your classmates." Masaru told the boy.

"But what if I hurt Sasuke or Takeo- what if I hurt PRINCE Iroh because I cannot control my earthbending?!" Rikuto asked.

"Rikuto! Accidents happen. It is not the end of the world so don't worry! See, Sasuke is fine now!" Masaru said trying to calm the boy. "I am sure Lu could give you some tips on how to handle what you can do until we find a more permanent solution, okay?"

"Okay," Rikuto sighed.

Masaru hugged him and patted him on the back and ruffled the black hair on his tiny head. "Don't be ashamed of who you are! Be proud to be an earthbender, Rikuto. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring. They aren't afraid to face their problems head-on-"

"But Father, I AM afraid!" Rikuto cried all over again. Izumi closed her eyes impatiently, and squeezed Sasuke like one would a stuffed animal to calm herself down. "I don't like to face things head-on! Father, there must have been a mistake! What if I am just weak?"

"You're not weak, you're four!" Izumi interrupted, trying in vain to mask her frustration with his weeping. As a child, Izumi never cried out of frustration, not that her mother would have tolerated it anyways. The action simply wasn't productive. A waste of energy, to Izumi. She wanted to console him but wasn't quite sure yet how to and could only hope her partner had the ability to…. Which she found out quickly didn't involve her intervention, she noticed as Masaru shot her a death glare. _Tone not helping!_ Silencing her again.

"There is no mistake!" Masaru said running his hand over his son's head. "Rikuto, you are an Earthbender and must accept this. We do not get to chose the bodies...or families," Masaru glanced at Izumi. "That we are born into. What we _can_ choose is how we respond to our circumstances. You can choose to continue to cry for the rest of eternity over something nobody can change, or you can accept your nature and find peace. Learn to bend your element and use it to protect your family."

"Protect it?! I'll just bring shame and dishonor on the family!"

"KUTO!" Izumi yelled, getting angry. _Where did he get these absurd notions?_ "How could you say such a thing?"

"The people at school will make fun of me! There are no earthbenders there! I'll be an oddity! They'll call me a bastard- they _already_ call me a bastard even though I am born from two firebenders. They don't know that you are Toph Beifong's son!" Rikuto cried.

Masaru and Izumi were both horrified by this revelation. The four year old attended nursery for three hours a day to acquaint himself with other children, and they were already calling him a bastard?

"What is wrong with other children these days?" Izumi asked her lover who shrugged.

"It wasn't the students," Rikuto revealed. "It was the teachers."

"That's it!" Izumi stood and placed Sasuke into Masaru's lap. Her hair streaked blue for a fleeting instant and Takeo and Iroh took a few paces back from their mother.

"Zumi, where do you think you're going?"

"The nursery school," Izumi replied, cracking the ground with the heat radiating from her feet.

"Izumi!" Masaru locked his fingers around her wrist. "You are the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation! You can't just waltz into the school and beat respect into those teachers!"

"I'll wear a disguise!" Izumi informed him, trying to pull away.

"That's not-" Masaru began to say, before Izumi lit her arm on fire in a futile attempt to get Masaru to release her. "Zumi! Stop this!" He said, extinguishing the flame with a wave of his hand, completely unfazed by her tantrum.

"Please don't make me fight you in front of them," Izumi begged with a sigh of exasperation and a nod at their children.

"Then don't fight me and just listen, okay?" he asked, not letting go of her wrist until she nodded and abandoned her rage. "You need to calm down," He started, running his fingers through her burning hair. Oh right, that. "Kuto is never going back to that school, okay? I will talk to the teachers on Monday and start searching for an earthbending master, and you, you will go back over there and help me console our son WITHOUT rolling your eyes or muttering under your breath about other people's lack of respect," Masaru said quietly.

Izumi took a deep breath and darkened the last of the blue streaks in her hair and Masaru released her wrist.

Just then, there was a crash in one of the second floor rooms, and the sound of thundering footsteps of people approaching the walkway above the courtyard.

Izumi bent down and motioned for the children to come away from the balcony, towards her. They scurried over and huddled together, between their parents. The civilian clothes, the masks? They were probably just sellswords. One jumped off the balcony and firebent at Masaru. He blocked with a blazing wall of red fire. Then more appeared from other side of the courtyard. Izumi used red fire when she had to hide her identity. But she could feel her blue slipping into her red flames whenever she became afraid of losing control.

"Saru! I can't-" Izumi yelled. Masaru roared fire and created a sphere of rainbow flames around his family. The children looked up. There were colors of fire they had never seen before. It was the Fire of Life, bent to protect. It was impenetrable from the outside. Iroh, Takeo, Rikuto, and Sasuke watched as arrows were melted by the flames, whole swords passed and created puddles of molten metal just below the point of entry.

"Zumi! I need you to shoot lightning at the sky!"

"But Saru-"

"Just do it!" Masaru yelled.

Izumi generated the blast and looked to Masaru. He broke the top of the sphere so she could discharge it at the clouds.

Then he closed the sphere again and counted to sixty and let go of the rainbow sphere. There was blood and metal everywhere. Iroh shielded Takeo while Izumi picked up Sasuke and Masaru picked up Rikuto. They were surrounded now by at least a dozen men in black uniforms with an amber band on their arm just like the archer and the metalbender on the roof of the hotel that night in Fire Fountain City.

"Thank you for being so quick," Masaru said. He turned to Izumi. "If you ever need help, just send the sparks up, and they will find you."

Izumi shifted two year old Sasuke in her arms and nodded and then looked around at all of the masked men staring at their family.

"Do they know who I am?"

"Of course. You are the Golden-Tangerine. And you are what the Fire Nation needs," Masaru breathed. "Why don't you take them back to the palace for tonight? I need to get some work done," Masaru suggested.

Izumi nodded and ushered her sons towards the secret tunnel as the black clad men with the armbands began cleaning up the bodies. Izumi turned back once all of the children were in the tunnel to see one black clad man drag up the one intruder left living.

"Who do you work for?" Masaru asked. Izumi didn't hear the answer before hearing the sound of a blade going through the man.

"Come on, I'm sure Grandma Mai will be pleased to see all of you," Izumi said lighting a hand to lead her children through the tunnels under the city.

That night, Izumi and Mai tucked all four boys into Izumi's bed so she could keep an eye on them.

But somebody had seen them pass through the castle.

"Fire Lady Mai, Princess Izumi, the Fire Sages are here to speak with you both," Iliana said upon entering.

"I won't leave them unattended," Izumi said firmly.

"I'll go," Mai said exiting quickly, her black and red robes swirling around her body.

"They're beautiful, truly," Iliana said standing beside Izumi, looking down at their peaceful faces.

"Yes, they are," Izumi replied, looking down at them lovingly.

Just then there was the sound if her mother's knives sticking someone in the wall. One fire Sage made it into the room.

"BASTARDS? THAT IS YOUR SOLUTION?!" he yelled.

Without a second thought, Izumi raised her hand shooting blue fire from her hand, throwing him from the room as all of the children woke.

"Mother, will you get them back down?" Izumi asked before running out of the room.

Mai nodded approaching Iroh first. He was the oldest, and if he knew what Mai was about to do, would have been the only one able to resist it. She slid her hand to the back of his neck and put him out cold as Izumi raced out of the room.

"HOW DARE YOU WAKE THEM!" Izumi yelled lifting the fire sage by the neck and slamming him into the wall.

"We released you from your contract with Hisoki so you could remarry, not breed like an alley raccoon-cat!"

"Times are changing Fire Sage Miu," Izumi replied. "You asked me to have more children, and I did. Once I become Fire Lord, I will legitimize my children and they will all be potential heirs to the throne," Izumi informed them.

"You were supposed to marry-"

"I will NEVER partake in such a humiliating ceremony ever again! I will NEVER allow myself to be bred like a buffalo-cow! I am not a piece of branded cattle at your ranch that you can herd around, Sage Miu! I am the Princess Izumi and when I become Fire Lord, I will no longer make marriage requisite to produce heirs to the throne. I will legitimize all of my children and then there will be plenty of heirs to take over after me," Izumi said.

"If you're truly adamant about legitimizing them, why don't you ask your beloved father to do so now?"

"Because my beloved father has enough problems on his plate as it is. He has to be more careful than I will need to be because of his history as an official traitor of the Fire Nation by royal decree of Fire Lord Ozai. When I ascend to the throne, I will have no war history, no criminal record, and no blood on my hands. I will aim to spread love and peace exactly as the people demand so that when it comes time for me to announce the existence of my children, it should not be cause for uprising, for I am doing exactly as the people ask. Loving."

"Have you no honor, Princess Izumi?" the Fire Sage asked.

"Do not speak to me of honor, Sage," Izumi growled through gritted teeth, closing her hand around the Sage's throat even tighter. "Was it not **_you_** who subjected a twenty-year-old girl to **five years** of mental abuse and marital rape? During the remainder of my father's reign, and for the entirety of mine, the Fire Nation will continue to see MANY changes, and you best hope that doesn't include the disbanding of the ancient and OBSOLETE, Fire Sages," Izumi said releasing his neck at once and watching the old man crumple on the floor. "I am not a little girl you can command anymore," Izumi added looking down at his pitiful form with contempt. "I am Princess Izumi, daughter of Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai and I will not obey anybody."

When Fire Sage Miu looked up, Fire Lord Zuko had joined them, and placed his hand approvingly on the Princess's shoulder. "You should be grateful for my daughter's good heart, and her mercy," Fire Lord Zuko informed the Fire Sage as his guards began removing his wife's knives from the other four. "Now, I recommend you return to the Temple and never again even think to interfere with the Fire Family's private affairs or else there WILL be consequences."

"Yes, Fire Lord Zuko," Fire Sage Miu said bowing with the others as they took their leave.

Izumi waited until they had disappeared down the hall before she returned to her room where her mother and her maid, Iliana watched the four boys sleeping peacefully.

"Thank you for backing me, Father," Izumi said. "I am sorry I had to use violent intimidation tactics."

"From now on, I will always back you, Izumi. And don't worry about intimidation tactics. Unfortunately, they are still necessary sometimes," Zuko said, massaging Izumi's tense shoulders affectionately.

As they stood there, Izumi thought to the courtyard that afternoon, and the black clad men with their armbands killing for Izumi. And the last man living, that her lover interrogated. How many people had he ordered killed to ensure her safety? Was she really that important? Was **she** really what the Nation needed? Did her father know about Masaru's team trailing her ever since she married Hisoki?

* * *

 **A/N**

 _Masaru's rainbow shield of fire is the colors of the fire the dragons Ran and Shaw wrapped Aang and Zuko in "the Firebending Masters" episode. His normal fire is red, but his shields are made of the "fire of life"._

 _If you haven't notice, I've tried to add just a little bit of a magical element to the firebending of my two mains._


	23. Toph's Return

**148AG**

The shipping port was bustling with activity as the young family awaited the passenger steamer.

Masaru stood on the docks wearing his best suit with his two-year-old son Tatsuya in his arms beside his lover who carried the two-year-old's identical twin brother, Tetsuya. Between them, ten-year-old Takeo stood holding hands with his eight-year-old brother Rikuto, and his six-year-old brother Sasuke as they waited anxiously for their grandmother to arrive.

Izumi wore a simple light pink dress that conveniently concealed her figure sculpted by thirty years of combat and etiquette training. She left her hair down for this meeting, and bore no Fire Nation insignias or decorations so she could hide her status as much as possible. She turned to her lover and the father of all of her children except one. "You're sweating, Love," she said, affectionately reaching over the heads of their three older boys to wipe his forehead with her long, stylishly wide sleeve.

"I haven't seen my mother in…" Masaru paused and tugged at his collar. "... thirty-one years!"

"Don't worry. You haven't missed anything. Trust me, she hasn't changed as long as I've known her. I'm sure she is just how you remember her," Izumi said reassuringly with a warm smile.

"The thing is," Masaru sighed sadly. "I barely remember her. You saw her every time you went to Republic City. She helped train you in pro-bending, and I left when I was five-years-old and never once looked back. What if she doesn't recognize my heartbeat?- Izumi, what if she doesn't recognize me?!"

"Saru, relax. If she doesn't recognize you, which I highly doubt, she will recognize me, and she knows she's looking for a couple with five babies." Izumi reassured him.

"You're right. I shouldn't worry so much… She'll find us…" Masaru said slouching, holding onto Tatsuya tightly.

"Damn right I will!" a gruff, relaxed voice said behind them, draping an arm over the shoulders of Masaru and Izumi. The three boys in the middle whirled around.

"WOAH!" Rikuto gasped looking down at a large hole that now existed before them, between the gray-haired stranger's feet.

"How'd you get there without us seeing you?" Sasuke asked.

"With earthbending!" Toph said, tapping Sasuke on the nose with a wide, toothy grin.

Rikuto jumped up and down. "Are you the legendary To-" _ph Beifong?_ Rikuto was about to ask before the old blind woman clapped her hand over the child's mouth.

"Hush up! Like your dear mummy here, nobody can know my name!" Toph hissed, looking around animatedly and pretending to be suspicious of her surroundings. "We are treading into VERY uncertain territory!" the old woman said. The three older boys gasped.

"Now! Which of you is the badgermole I am supposed to be training?" Toph asked.

Takeo grabbed Rikuto by both shoulders and gave him a firm shove forward towards the strange woman as if he were some blood offering to an angry dragon. "Just take him and go!"

"Excellent! How old are you, Kid?" the strange woman asked.

"Eight years, ma'am!" Rikuto said, puffing up his chest in an attempt to feel taller.

Toph smiled. "Great! Let's go-" Toph said putting a hand on his shoulder, whisking him away from his family.

"Wait! Aunt Toph!" Izumi called running after the woman while Masaru stayed back with Takeo and Sasuke.

"I'll hammer out the details of this… arrangement… with you and… _him…_ later this evening. You wanted me to train Kuto, and I will train Kuto, but I will do it my way and don't need any young firebenders interfering," Toph said to Izumi in a low tone so the excited little boy wouldn't hear.

Izumi sighed. "Very well. You _are_ the greatest of your kind… I suppose I should just… let you do your thing…"

"Got that right!" Toph said punching the Princess in the arm hard enough to bruise.

Izumi winced, glad Masaru didn't inherit that aggressive habit.

"She didn't even acknowledge me," Masaru whispered to Izumi as they headed to the train station to ride back to the capital.

"She just needs time. So much has changed, Saru. But everything will turn out alright. Remember Great Uncle Iroh. You may not always see the light at the end of the tunnel,"

"But if you keep moving, you will come to a better place," Masaru replied.

"Exactly," Izumi said boarding the train with Tetsuya on her hip and Sasuke at the tip of her longest finger on her free hand while Masaru remained in charge of Takeo and Tatsuya.

* * *

The rest of the day, Izumi and Masaru busied themselves with teaching Sasuke and Takeo how to make raspberry fruit tarts while also trying to juggle the now mobile twins while Toph was off who knows where with Rikuto.

"Did we do the right thing inviting her here?" Masaru asked Izumi nervously as they settled down in their favorite drawing room, Masaru with a business magazine, and Izumi with a report from her father about the recent council member appointments in Republic City.

"I don't know," Izumi replied, shrugging her shoulders the best she could with Tetsuya falling asleep on her chest while she read.

Just then a chunk of wall flew across the room, over the boys' heads, and into a tapestry of dragons encircling a flame with a heavy thud. Everyone turned to the source of the destruction to find a hole in the wall, revealing several more holes behind it leading one to presume that the legendary Toph Beifong had her grandson simply earthbend his way into the room where their family was resting.

"I'm an earthbender, and now you have to deal with it!" Rikuto said, stomping the ground to lift up a bunch of rocks out of the marble floor before kicking and punching them into all of the walls of the drawing room.

"Kuto! Please don't earthbend inside! You'll dirty the tapestries!" Masaru asked of his son, standing and moving Tatsuya onto his mother's belly beside his twin brother who was awoken by the sound of the wall breaking down..

"No! Father look! I can clean them now too!" Rikuto exclaimed excitedly running over to the tapestry. With a heavy stomp, Rikuto readied himself then slammed both fists into the bottom of the tapestry bending all of the earth, dirt, and dust out of it, making the art piece look even newer than when he bent his way into the room.

"Congratulations, Love," Izumi said, rolling up the report from her father placing it on the coffee table. She shuffled the groggy twins on her lap to sit more comfortably so she could sit up and look at Rikuto properly.

"And look! I can already bend metal!" Rikuto said bending a bronze torch fixture on the wall into a blob, shaping it into a complex geometric figure between his hands, before placing it back in the wall in its original form with screw fixtures and all.

"Woah!" Takeo exclaimed enthusiastically, jumping to his feet.

"Hey, I heard we were going to be fed when we returned. Is that still happening?" Toph asked loudly.

Masaru, Takeo, Rikuto and Izumi turned to face the old earthbender.

"Yes, Mother, I'll go tell the chef to set the table now that we're all here," Masaru said, running off quickly. Toph slid her foot across the ground, assessing the damage then, restored all of the walls and cleaned up every room she had Rikuto break through with a wave of her wrist, and sat down next to Izumi.

"May I hold them?" Toph asked, extending her arms towards the twins.

"Sure, Aunt Toph," Izumi said, passing over Tetsuya then Tatsuya.

"Hey, little guys," Toph said, sitting back on the red velvet lounger feeling the two year olds' faces while Sasuke took the opportunity to climb onto Izumi's lap. "How are you doing?"

The twins rubbed their eyes and blinked at Toph, but she didn't respond like their mother. Tatsuya got scared and crawled back to Izumi, climbing all over Sasuke to get his mother's skin. Izumi shuffled the boys around and situated one of them on each knee.

"Izumi," Toph said slowly with a heaviness in the back of her throat.

"Yes, Aunt Toph?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For giving my son attention and love, for making him feel worth something, and for making all of your children feel worth something. It is something I didn't know how to do when I needed to, when _he_ needed me to, when _he_ was young." Toph confessed with what looked like tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she held onto Tetsuya with one hand on his back, and one hand on his belly, feeling his heart beating. "I commend you, Fire Princess."

"Thank you, Aunt Toph," Izumi said, smiling as a warm, yet strange feeling came over her being. It was unusual for any Beifong to show any sort of emotion as such an act was seen as displaying weakness. It was even rarer still, for the original Beifong to do such a thing, and yet here she was, expressing gratitude and nearly… crying.

"And thank you for these," Toph said, lifting up Tatsuya onto his feet.

Izumi laughed. "The twins?" Izumi asked, nestling Sasuke's head under her chin while he curled up against her comfortably.

"All of the grandchildren. Would you believe it? I BEAT SUGAR QUEEN TO GRANDBABIES!" Toph exclaimed, laughing maniacally and startling Tetsuya who also tried to crawl back to Izumi. "Bitch owes me six thousand yuans!" Toph added, snatching Tetsuya before he could make it back to his mother.

"Aunt Toph! Please watch your language around _**my**_ children!" Izumi gasped while Takeo and Rikuto covered their mouths and laughed at their paternal grandmother's crassness.

"Eh! They'll hear it all eventually!" Toph dismissed, starting to carry Tetsuya away as Izumi followed with Tatsuya on one hip and Sasuke on the other, not wanting to let any of her other children out of her sight with Toph around.

"Table's set by the way! I can feel it with my feet!" Toph said heading for the dining room without any need for invitations or directions to her destination.

Izumi took a deep breath and followed, nodding for Takeo and Rikuto to come to eat.

* * *

Dinner was a tense and silent affair for a long while before Toph broke the silence, addressing Masaru directly. "Kid, I can feel your angsty breathing from all the way over here. Just say what's on your mind already!"

Izumi looked up. Lin would have yelled back at Toph. Called her out on her insensitivity, but Masaru was different. The young man stood and walked over to his estranged mother. Toph pushed her chair out and turned to him "looking" at him with her feet, her face scrunched up with a an expression of bewilderment.

All of the children watched as their father got down on his knees and bowed before her, touching his head to her filthy bare feet.

"Mother, I just— I wanted to apologize. I know it must be hard for you to come after all these years and see—," Masaru began to say.

"It's not really—," Toph shrugged, trying to bat him away but he continued.

"But you wouldn't even acknowledge me on the docks. Even now, you won't even say my name. Just hear me, please. I am so— SOOO— sorry for running away. I am sorry for rejecting the Earth Kingdom half of myself that I could not escape. I'm sorry for refusing to meet sooner. I understand if you never wanted to speak with me again or engage, but…I guess… I just wanted you to know that I was always afraid. I was afraid of hurting you with my flames that I thought it would be best, if would be more safe for all of us, if I were to leave… I understand if you hate me but—".

Izumi watched as Toph's expression soured with every word her son said in genuine grief.

Toph was torn between feeling pity, annoyance, and anger towards the boy, but she also felt guilty.

Izumi wanted to intervene but knew it was not her place to do so.

"MASARU LEE!" Toph yelled finally, grabbing Masaru by his shoulder, and yanking him up to his feet again, standing as well. Even up on the tip of her toes, the earthbender's head barely reached the tip of her grown son's nose. "Quit groveling before me in front of your sons! What kind of example are you setting for your babies? Did Sparky turn you into a wuss or was it that Gloomy Lady who sighs a lot. Or maybe it was this little princess—" Toph said thrusting her finger in Izumi's direction aggressively. "—who turned you into a baby!" Toph exhaled and calmed down a bit. "I never hated you, Masaru. I knew you needed to go to find your own way and I knew that someday, when you were ready, we could try to have a relationship again.

"My own parents kept me hidden from the world. They say they did it to protect me, thinking that I was helpless, tiny, fragile, and weak. I know what it is like to be caged in some fancy mansion with no one who understands your ability. It hurts. I knew if you stayed with us in Gaoling, you too would suffer that same isolation and pain as I did. As much as I missed you and wanted you back with me, I didn't take you back because I wanted you to be happy. And when I saw a four-year-old Zumzu strike you with lightning and you redirect it at five-years-old, I knew this is where you needed to be, with your element, in the Fire Nation. I knew you would thrive here with your chosen companion and that you'd be happy. You had no need for me anymore. I could not be more proud of the man that you have become, but at the same time I know I can take no credit for any of it. I'm not mad at you for not coming home. I was mad at myself for not making you feel loved enough and safe enough to do so." Toph told her grown son.

Masaru threw his arms around her.

Toph recoiled at the physical contact as if she had been assaulted. "Alright," Toph said hesitantly returning the embrace, patting her son on the back awkwardly. "You can let go now."

Masaru remained holding her, but smiled. "You didn't grow up with much physical contact, did you?" Masaru asked, leaning his chin on her head.

"None at all. Frankly, I'm surprised you _did_. Never thought Little-Miss-Sighs-a-Lot was capable of feeling," Toph laughed, forcibly removing Masaru from her. "Now, if you ever fall to your knees like that again, I'm going to slap you. You are my son, not my subordinate. There's no need for all this— formality!"

"Yes, Mother," Masaru said saluting, making his family laugh before returning to his seat at the head of the table.

"Grandma Toph, what is the Earth Kingdom like?" Rikuto asked.

"The Earth Kingdom? Hmmmmmm… which part of it?"

"All of it?"

"Well you're going to have to be a little more specific. The Earth Kingdom is MASSIVE, and diverse. There are deadly, dry, deserts that stretch for thousands of leagues, swamps just as vast as mysterious… cities infested with Dai Li agents who do nothing but keep secrets from their populace and keep their populace from speaking..." Toph said to them as if she were starting a horror story of sorts. Izumi and Masaru laughed.

"But... I'm afraid the remainder of my description will have to wait for bedtime, though. We've got company," Toph announces pointing her arm through the open doorway to the dining room at the Masaru estate.

Everyone looked in that direction

"Mother! Father!" Izumi stood and bowed to them.

"Oh get up, girl! Come on, sparky, you really make your child bow to you in her own home?"

"It's simply customary," Zuko replied. "And she knows her place in our society."

Toph scowled, not liking the sound of that at all.

"Don't worry. We still treat her like our daughter," Mai said, kissing Izumi on the forehead before pulling up a seat besides Tetsuya.

"Please forgive the intrusion, but we wanted to see our old friend and…check up on things." Zuko said awkwardly.

"Don't worry, I haven't killed any of our grandkids yet," Toph replied wiping her mouth, sliding her chair back and kicking her dirt coated feet up on the table, garnering reactions of shock and amusement from the three grandsons sitting across from her.

"That is… much appreciated," Mai said, sitting by Tatsuya at Masaru's end of the table not at all surprised by Toph's behavior.

"Grandfather, is your real name Sparky?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

"I—Uh—-" Zuko stuttered. Toph broke into a fit of laughter.

"No, his name is not 'Sparky!' Why do you ask, Suke?" Mai asked as she helped Masaru tend to Tatsuya's food covered face.

"Because Grandma Toph calls him sparky and adults always call each other by the first name even though we are not allowed to," Sasuke replied.

"It's just a nickname, sweet love. We call you Suke even though your name is Sasuke," Mai replied with an unamused face.

"Why are you guys always so serious?" Toph asked, elbowing Zuko playfully.

"Because we've had to be for so long, it's hard to remember a time when we were otherwise," Mai explained not looking away from Tatsuya.

"What? You mean you don't remember a time when you sat through the greatest Ember Island Players play to date? Or when you sent a damn combustionbender after us?" Toph asked, sarcastically aghast.

"Grandfather did WHAT?" the grandchildren chorused, their eyes wide.

"Why?" Sasuke asked.

"That incident was a LONG time ago and hardly relevant anymore now that we are allies," Zuko interjected, sensitive about revealing the details of his troubled past to his grandchildren while they were still so young.

"Allies, are we now? What happened to being old friends?" Toph joked taking a sip of cactus juice, tilting her chair back on its rear legs.

"I— sorry. But you know what I meant!" Zuko replied frustratedly.

"I also heard rumors from a certain person's sister about certain someone trashing some admiral's son's house during a party after a niiiiiice therapy session on the beach—"

Mai dabbed delicately at her mouth with a napkin. "To be fair, the guy deserved it. He was an arrogant little prick who thought he was hotter than the center of a magma chamber of a volcano. Though I must say, it was a great cap to our therapy session by the campfire. Exercise always does well for the body."

"Just because your grandparents used to semi-regularly engage in destructive behavior in their youth does not make it in any way okay for you to do the same," Izumi said pointedly to her boys.

"Says the little girl who enlisted my son to help her concoct wildfyre to set ablaze in all the bathrooms of the royal palace back in the day." Toph said, twirling her chopsticks around carelessly with her toes.

"Wait! Mom you did what?!" Rikuto exclaimed as Izumi turned away, red with embarrassment.

"And in the _palace_?" Takeo asked.

"What were you even doing in the _palace_?" Sasuke added.

"She was a servant," Mai answered quickly for Izumi. It wasn't a total lie. Izumi _did_ serve the country as Fire Princess.

"Wait, why was Father in the palace as well? Was it because Grandma Toph is famous?"

"Yeah, something like that," Toph said with a nod and a wink at Zuko.

"Was he a diplomat?" Takeo asked. "Before he became a businessman?"

"Father, does that mean you got to meet the Fire Lord?" Sasuke asked.

"I did," Masaru replied, not looking in Zuko's direction.

"Well? What's he like?" Takeo asked.

"Like as second father to me," Masaru answered.

Toph closed her eyes, removed her feet from the table, and walked towards Mai.

"Would you care to join me?" Toph asked the Fire Lady.

"Of course," Mai said ruffling Tatsuya's hair before following the Earthbender.

Once they were gone, Masaru turned to Zuko.

"Was that statement out of line?" Masaru asked, worried for his mother.

"Not at all," Zuko replied. "Don't worry about your mom. She's a lot stronger than she seems, which is to say, unbelievably strong."

"I'm sure!"

"Wait!" Sasuke said suddenly. "Something doesn't seem right!"

"What is it, Love?" Izumi asked.

"If Mother was a servant in the palace, and she and Father lit fires in ALL of the bathrooms in the _Palace_ , why wasn't she exiled? Couldn't such actions be interpreted as attempted assassination of somebody?" Sasuke asked.

Both Takeo and Rikuto looked between their parents, confusion evident in their furrowed brows.

Izumi looked to Masaru to respond. Fire Lady Mai was always so much better and faster at coming up with the right lies.

"Your mother and I have been friends since we were children. Since the Fire Lord was kind with me, he was kind with your mother as well. And showed _her_ mercy," Masaru answered with a wink.

Both Zuko and Izumi relaxed a little. The boys were smart. While the adults were grateful, they knew it was going to be a long evening.

* * *

In the garden, Toph jumped onto a stone bridge railing just like she liked to do when she was a child, treating it as a balance beam while Mai walked normally, over the main crossing of the stream. At first they said nothing, just walking, until Toph reached the end of the bridge, jumped off, and stopped walking.

"I wanted to thank you, Mai for everything you've done; taking Saru in when he was only five and raising him to adulthood. You didn't have to do all of that. I only asked that you make sure he didn't die, but you… you've made him into a man... given him a friend in Izumi, and you've let your daughter love him even though in doing so, you've risked your family's life."

"What do you mean?" Mai said, looking quizzically at her earthbending friend. "What we did is what we would have done for any one of our friends. It only seemed right, all things considered. He was a firebender, and there is no better place for one than at the palace of the Fire Nation. Besides, you know we always did want a sibling for Izumi, and couldn't. Masaru was like a son to us, and have since the day we found him in that alley near the harbor. He was just a child and he and Izumi got along swimmingly. We were never in any real danger…"

"You were. Several times. I've been traveling a lot as of late… In the swamp, I- I've seen things. My son and and your daughter. And things that the Fire Sages have done to them, and intend to do…"

"Intend to...?"

"In the swamp, we see people we've lost, people we've loved. They never truly leave us. Time becomes no more than an illusion. As for us, if we look closely enough, we can see everything."

"Everything?" Mai said, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"Everything. My children, Lin, Su, and Saru, You and your daughter, Twinkle-Toes, Sugar Queen and his kiddos. It saddens me to see them all suffering."

"Can the suffering be avoided if you already know what's coming?" Mai asked.

"I am afraid not… a lot of it is… unfortunately necessary," Toph said, grimacing. "Avoiding the pain, I've found, only worsens such suffering. It was that running, that became my downfall. Earthbenders are supposed to face their problems head on, yet somehow I forgot and in doing so, lost my son and both of my daughters. You Fire Nation Royals, have managed to keep yourselves together even with all of your dancing, but the time is quickly approaching when that will need to change regardless of the consequences."

Mai gazed down at the grass as they blew in the cool night breeze, processing all that Toph said and reflecting on the life she lead with her husband, her daughter, and her ward, and wondering, what it was that the Fire Sages were planning.


	24. Sokka's Return

Takeo and Rikuto were sparring in the courtyard with Toph's "supervision". Masaru was at work and Izumi got the day off from her father to help watch the twins.

"Rikuto! Remember what I told you! Everything stable is built on what?" Toph yelled at her young pupil.

"A foundation!" Rikuto replied. He stepped forward and slid a knife hand to the side, sliding Takeo's front foot back into his back foot, narrowing his older brother's stance, knocking him off balance, then punched the ground up knocking him over.

"I win!" Rikuto said jumping up in the air. Just then, Toph kicked up a stone and knocked the boy down effortlessly. Izumi almost protested, half standing, wanting so much to run to check on her baby, for Toph hit Rikuto far harder than Takeo ever did in sparring.

"Victory over one opponent doesn't end a war!" Toph reminded the boy. "Both of you up again!"

"Alright," Takeo said doing a kip up. _Typical firebender,_ thought Toph. _So light and springy. Very much like airbenders, with more will and energy._ Kuto remained on the ground. Izumi tensed from where she sat watching from the bench on the edge of the courtyard.

"Kuto, don't be a wuss like your father can be," Toph groaned.

"I'm not being a wuss. I am thinking," Rikuto replied, curling his fingers into the earth.

"That's where your mistakes lay: in the thinking part of the fight. You have to be fast, always ready! Learn your opponent's technique and then trust your instincts!" Toph said raising another rock silently into the air as the boy remained with his head down to the ground. Toph chucked towards Rikuto who dodged it doing a sweep kick he'd seen his firebending older brothers do often, spinning his grandma, and then sliding her feet to the side, right out from under her.

"Nice one, Kuto!" Takeo praised.

"No leader can avoid a mutiny. It will always come eventually!" Rikuto said, jumping onto his feet again, bouncing lightly like his firebending brothers, much to Toph's chagrin. She would have prefered a more flat-footed earthbending grandson, but she would have to make do with what she had, since neither Lin nor Su showed any interest in settling down and conceiving, or even speaking with Toph.

* * *

Sasuke stood but moved towards Izumi for some reason instead of congratulating Rikuto on his new achievements with Takeo and Toph.

"What is it, love?" Izumi asked, pressing her lips to his forehead, patting his bottom affectionately as he tried to snuggle up against her body.

"I am never going to bend anything, will I?" Sasuke asked in a barely audible whisper as he settled on her knee.

Izumi moved his growing black hair out of his sweet, innocent little face.

"What makes you say that?" Izumi asked, unsure what to make of the child's feelings.

"I mean, I am already six years old, and nothing has happened to me. Not even inadvertent bending," Sasuke replied, looking down at his swinging feet. "Even Tatsu warms his own bath after you leave," Sasuke added.

"If you do or don't bend an element makes no difference to me, Sasuke," Izumi whispered touching her forehead to his.

"But you and Father are both firebenders, and you are always SOOO happy whenever Iroh or Keyo or Kuto bend anything!" Sasuke said.

"We are proud of their efforts, yes, and take pride in all of their accomplishments, but that pride has nothing to do with their bending." Izumi told him.

"Really?" Sasuke asked skeptically.

"Yes. As a mother, it makes me happy whenever you or any of your siblings try something new and succeed at whatever it is you do, as long as it doesn't include harming anybody. You don't have to be a bender to make me proud of you. My mother, and your father's father were BOTH non-benders, and were still amazing human beings. My non-bending mother bested over a dozen highly trained prison guards at the legendary Boiling Rock when she was only fifteen years old and your father's non-bending father invented a machine that revolutionized crystal mining and disrupted an ENTIRE industry for the better when he was only sixteen. Everyone is different, Sasuke. Your destiny is not to be like your father or like me or any of your siblings or grandparents. Your destiny is what you make it out to be. If you are a non-bender, so be it. If you're a late bender, don't worry. There is no deadline for any of these things. You just have to take what you get, make the best of your circumstances and opportunities, look at the silver lining, and try find happiness in your life." Izumi said to her son.

"Hm…" Sasuke nodded, albeit skeptically, and leaned his head on the base of her neck above her chest. "But how will I protect myself when my brothers move to a different class or school?"

Izumi weighed her options. As much as her mother loved the grandchildren, she would never teach a boy knife throwing. The Kyoshi warriors had a similar philosophy but made the acception for Sokka of the Southern Water tribe after he begged them to on his hands and knees. Then there was Sokka who could possibly teach Sasuke something. "Sasuke," Izumi said holding him tight against her body as if her arms were a shield or a blanket for her baby. "Have you heard of Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe?"

"The boomerang guy in Team Avatar?" Sasuke asked innocently

"He's more than just a boomerang guy. He is a master swordsman and a former student of the legendary Master Piandao of the Fire Nation. He also happens to be a brilliant inventor, an excellent diplomat, politician, and a nonbender."

"Hm..." Sasuke sighed, shifting on her knee as if he were hoping her body could swallow him up again, so that he didn't have to see his brothers earth and firebending.

"Would you like to meet him?" Izumi asked.

"Huh? But isn't he like... famous? Isn't he busy? I'm just some non-bending, insignificant kid in the Fire Nation!"

"Sasuke," Izumi said softly. "Do you know who I am?"

"My mother?" Sasuke guessed. Was this a trick question?

"Do you know my name?" Izumi asked.

Sasuke thought for a moment, trying to recall. "Sometimes, Father calls you Zumi," he said.

"I am _Princess_ Izumi, daughter of Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai. If you would like to meet Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, I can make it happen. I can make almost anything happen. Maybe I can even get him to consent to teaching you some swordsmanship if you ask him first nicely."

"Really? You can do that?" Sasuke asked, his eyes widening in shock.

"I can and will do _anything_ for my baby," Izumi replied with a warm smile, sensing Saru standing on the catwalk above them. She could feel the heat of his heart and his love for her at a range of a half mile. She could find him by his thermal signature. Like Toph could with her seismic sense, Izumi could see many things most people wouldn't believe.

* * *

Masaru went alone on his way home from work to the port to receive Sokka off the Water Tribe.

"You!" Sokka exclaimed ruffling his slicked back hair. "Haven't seen you in what? At LEAST fifteen years, since you and Zumzu were dating!"

Masaru laughed. "Yes, you saw me a couple times at the Palace, then again when I was still in the army. I also made a donation to the Republic City Library, and my army regiment helped fill it in one of our peace-keeping missions."

"What a good little Fire Nation boy you are!" Sokka cooed, walking with his arm around the younger man's shoulders. "So, how's the Princess doing?"

"Well, I'm pleased to report," Saru replied, beaming with a little more pride than a friend would show when answering the question.

"You together again now again?" Sokka asked knowingly.

"Not- exactly." Masaru answered, realizing his mistake. "She's still married to Hisoki. I'm just helping out… from time to time… with various things." Masaru replied quickly. "Like getting you from the docks and… and…" Spirits! Why did Masaru have to get so flustered when speaking to people of his mother's generation.

Sokka cocked his head to the side. There hadn't been much in the papers about the husband of the Princess in years. Then out of nowhere, Sokka received a private letter from the Princess telling him in great depth about a little non-bender boy in dire need of inspiration to keep living among prodigious earth and firebending siblings. Then once back in the Fire Nation, Sokka is greeted not my the Princess, but her ex-beau who couldn't help but to speak of her so fondly as they made their way to this little boy's house who happened to be none other than Masaru's own estate.

"I'll show you to your guest room and then find the boy and let him give you the tour, if that's alright," Masaru informed Sokka as they crossed the threshold of the grand estate belonging to the Owner of Earthen Fire Refineries' Fire Nation Division.

Sokka followed the young man through grand halls and galleries to the resident quarter where there were little evidence of any sort of child proofing. Suits of armor from throughout the ages, weapons and all lined one of the many halls, and sharp wall decorations decorated many others.

"I was informed the boy is six?" Sokka asked.

"Yes, that is correct."

"Then where does he keep his toys, assuming he has some, that is," Sokka asked with slight worry.

"When he is using them, anywhere and everywhere. When he's not playing, he stows them away properly." Masaru replied.

 _So neat these Fire Nation folks_ , thought Sokka as they walked deeper still into the grand estate.

"Here you are? Home sweet home! I hope it is to your liking. I wanted to make it comfortable. Some coworkers recommended furs. If there is ANYTHING you dislike or need please do not hesitate to let me know, and we can most likely provide it or produce it almost immediately," Masaru said nervously.

"Thank you, Masaru," Sokka said with a warm smile.

Just then, he noticed a little human peeking out from behind Masaru's leg.

"Hey, little guy," Sokka said, bending down. Masaru turned and saw his six-year-old standing there wide-eyed and curious. He ducked behind Masaru's leg, hiding from Sokka.

"Don't be shy, Suke. Great Uncle Sokka is _really_ nice!" a familiar, melodic voice with a Fire Nation accent said.

Sokka stood and saw Izumi standing behind the boy and Man.

"Princess," Sokka said with tears stinging his eyes. Izumi pushed past Masaru and ran into Sokka's open arms. "You were just a girl, twenty years of age, the last time I saw you!"

"I know," Izumi replied, releasing him.

"So, is this the boy? Sasuke?" Sokka asked, bending down again.

"Yes," Izumi replied, looking at him with a completely pure look of love in her eyes.

"I have a gift for you," Sokka said, pulling something out of his bags and offering it with two open hands to the young boy.

The boy craned his neck to see, but still didn't move forward.

"It's only wood. It won't hurt you or your siblings too badly, as long as you don't jam it into their mouths or eyes," Sokka said good naturedly.

Masaru patted the timid young boy on the back.

Sasuke looked up at his father and then slowly walked forward and held out two open hands. When Sokka transferred the sword, the six year old bowed low, touching his forehead to the wooden sword as a gesture of utmost respect.

"He's too polite, Masaru," Sokka said standing, satisfied. "He acts more like a little Fire Nation Prince than a child."

"He's no prince though. Just my boy!" Masaru said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Sasuke looked up and smiled at his father.

"Of course he isn't," Sokka replied, not convinced. He glanced at Izumi. "But I have a feeling he will be some day."

"Councilman Sokka?" the young boy asked.

"Yes, Sasuke?"

"If you're tired now, can we start tomorrow morning?" Sasuke asked.

"And if I am not tired?" Sokka asked with an inviting smile sensing the child's eagerness.

"Then can we start now?" Sasuke asked even quieter, avoiding eye contact with all of the adults.

"You really don't have to, Uncle-" Izumi began to say.

"No, I want to. I appreciate his ambition," Sokka said to the Princess. He drew two swords. One was a wooden sword he intended to use to teach the boy parrying, and the other, his famed space sword that Toph helped him find shortly after the end of the war.

"This, I will use with you, and this," He said unsheathing the space sword and held the blade before the boy so he could see.

"Will always be in the room or space where we train, so you can remember your goal, and see something like what you will forge some day, when you're ready for your own sword," Sokka said resheathing the sword before the curious lad could touch it and potentially cut his finger.

"Thank you," Izumi mouthed.

Sokka merely smiled and offered the boy his hand. Sasuke took one finger, and lead him away. Masaru stepped aside, allowing them to pass before turning to his lover.

"Sokka knows about us," Masaru said.

"It _IS_ kind of obvious to anyone who is allowed into this home," Izumi replied, shrugging.

* * *

The six-year-old boy worked tirelessly with the wooden sword, determined to get every motion just right. Sokka watched the little lad's determined gaze follow every movement of Sokka's body. He mimicked every change exactly, and never once, let his mind wander away. They started with basic drills then moved onto conditioning and finally, forms.

"Do you think you could learn with your left hand as well?" Sokka asked.

"Like Grandfather?" Sasuke asked excitedly.

"Well, more like me, just ambidextrous. Equally proficient at using both arms. Your father is trained in a very special type of dual sword where each blade is treated as half as a whole and always used together. It is very useful to overwhelm your opponent in battle, but if one arm becomes disabled, it becomes exceedingly difficult to continue fighting," Sokka explained.

"This way," Sokka tossed his wooden sword up and caught it with his other hand, twirling it behind his back and catching it with a different grip. "You can continue after your dominant hand has been put out of commission and surprise everybody with a sneak attack!" Sokka said enthusiastically, dropping his sword, grabbing the little boy, and carrying him around like he were flying. Sasuke screamed and laughed.

"So, you up for it?" Sokka asked.

Sasuke tossed his own wooden sword up and spun once and caught it with his left hand and looked up with a smile.

"You're already a natural!" Sokka exclaimed messing his hair affectionately.

Sasuke beamed and continued watching and repeating, absorbing every demonstration like a little sponge.

Even after the grueling hour-long lesson, Sasuke was still practicing. Sokka watched for a short while as the boy trained on his own before going to speak with the Princess Izumi of the Fire Nation.

As expected, he found her standing on the balcony above, having watched intently the entire time. Sokka greeted her with a smile and an arm around her tense shoulders.

"He's yours, isn't he?" Sokka confirmed.

"How can you tell?" Izumi asked, leaning with her forearms on the railing.

"He has that same fire in his eyes that you always did when you were learning a new bending or defense technique. That determination, that calculating look you get when solving some mystery. He looks at his sword as an engineer would a mathematical equation, or a certain Chief Of Police would a complicated case, or a certain Princess would look at a map of her great nation," Sokka said watching the boy practicing.

Izumi looked closer and smiled. "He does, doesn't he?"

"Yes. You must be proud."

"You have no idea."

"Thank you, Uncle Sokka," Izumi replied.

"I think I do. The way you look at him is the exact same way Mai looks at you, every day. You may not know realize it, but we're all so proud of you, little Zumju," Sokka said pulling her tight against him, messing her regally tied hair.

"Thank you, Uncle," Izumi whispered leaning in, not even bothering to worry about her appearance when at home.

"No thank YOU, for being an incredible mother to these incredible little human beings."


	25. Hisoki’s Return

**A/N**

 _At first, I thought, can this chapter be censored?, and then I realized, yeah, probably since most of the chapter is just arguing and fighting (pay close attention to the fight and Hisoki's bending; things have changed) that isn't explicit so I just deleted some lines that might be too descriptive to leave things implied. (As always, uncensored version is on AO3 under user 'zhenyilani')_

 _If you are wondering why would I even bring back Hisoki anyways, it is because Legend of Korra creators announced that Izumi has a daughter that was originally going to be a love interest for Mako._

 _Mako is 22 in Book 4. General Iroh is 41. I highly doubt Iroh's little sister is anywhere near his age since I don't think Bryke would pair a 38-year-old (MUST BE BADASS BECAUSE SHE IS A DESCENT OF ZUKO) Princess with a 21 year old (kinda lame) police detective (who is a great and loyal friendguy), even though the show has clearly shown that love has no bounds (with_ _Pemzin age gap and_ _Korrasami)..._

 _So my headcannon is that this unnamed canon Princess of the Fire Nation is at least 16 years younger than Iroh, (putting her about 3 years older than Mako still because that baby gap is (kinda) crazy, in my opinion) and wrote this chapter to show how in the heck Izumi ended up with a second legitimate kid with such a huge age gap. (This chapter is still in 149AG as is Toph's and Sokka's Return)_

 _Soooooo, sorry for the rambling and onto the chapter:)))_

 _If you don't want to read the chapter and just want to move on to something lighter(okay not really because next is another birth scene where Izumi almost dies (this time because the kid is not quite oriented properly and is a lot bigger[other times it was because she was too traumatized from the miscarriage that she was afraid to push]) then all you have to know about this chapter is that Hisoki returns and gets what he deserves, but not without leaving a little something for Izumi to deal with later._

* * *

 **149AG**

Sasuke, had a new sword, Rikuto had an Earthbending Master, Takeo was enjoying school, the twins had just begun firebending, and Masaru had his mother back. Everything felt… perfect. Izumi smiled as she emerged from the secret tunnel. She looked around quickly and then crossed the courtyard to the palace wearing her casual robes. She changed into something more presentable then headed for her office to see if her father had left anything else for her to do when she was intercepted by one of the palace messengers.

"Princess Izumi," the messenger said bowing to her. He looked paler than a ghost when he turned his head up from the bow.

"Is everything alright?" Izumi asked, suddenly overcome with worry. "Are my mother and father-"

"They're fine. But your husband."

"My husband?" Izumi asked. The words felt strange in her ears and her mouth. She had not heard those words spoken or had any need to say them for the past twelve years.

"Your husband," the messenger repeated, his voice quivering. "Hisoki- he is waiting for you in the Chamber of Gold."

Izumi felt sick for a moment as memories of a life she tried so hard to forget came flooding back to the front of her head. "Where is my father?"

"He has not yet been informed…"

"It has been twelve years!"

"I know, Princess!"

"How do you know it is actually him?" Izumi asked.

"He knew the palace like the back of his hand, and had knowledge of you that nobody except your husband should know," the messenger said. "Forgive me, Princess."

"Tell my father to meet me in the Chamber of Gold," Izumi ordered.

"Yes, Princess,"

"Hurry!"

"Yes, Princess!" the messenger said, sprinting down the halls.

Izumi went to see for herself. She debated taking a side route to a balcony few people knew how to get to to try to sneak a peek before confronting the man that sometimes still haunted her nightmares and ruined her daydreams. She debated climbing into the vents and killing him from above with lightning. She debated nailing him to the wall with darts, paralyzing him with the same dark lightning that he used on her during their bedding ceremony and then cutting him open from the inside out with her dual swords. She imagined so many ways to eliminate him from her life stealthily, yet somehow, foolishly she found herself simply walking through the front doors to the massive decadently decorated room to see indeed the man himself standing there at the front of the room, eyeing the smaller throne installed there, donning a nice, shiny new suit, and a haircut that no doubt, framed his handsome, chiseled face. But.. he looked.. Older. He was only five years older than she now, so barely forty, and had gone completely grey.

"Hello, Princess," he said softly, turning to face her. His face! His eyes were encircled by shadows, his cheeks gaunt, his lips pale as if he were already dying. But… as long as he lived, she was bound to him.

Izumi blinked, speechless, afraid. She couldn't say anything.

"Have you replaced me already?" he asked knowingly, narrowing her eyes.

Izumi just stood, keeping her distance with her mouth slightly agape. Her breathing and heart rate increased.

"I saw you smiling as you crossed the courtyard today. I must say, I have never seen you so happy before," Hisoki continued walking towards her.

"Hisoki-" Izumi gasped backing away from him. "It's been twelve years…"

"So you have replaced me, I understand…"

"No! I never did remarry I just-"

"Don't lie to me, Bitch!" he yelled striking her across the face.

 _He's mad! He is not Hisoki! He's an imposter! He must be! But his voice was the same-_

"Well I'm here now, and I'd like my wife back," he said grabbing her with one hand by her shoulder, close to her neck.

Izumi circled her hand, breaking his grip on her, leapt back and to the side. "It's been twelve years! Twelve years without a scrap of news! You don't get to come back and just resume whatever _that_ was that we had!" Izumi yelled.

"I thought you'd make this difficult, so I guess I'll just have to end you first," he said firing a strange white fire that she had never seen before in her direction.

Izumi broke the flame and shot back with blue. _Father! Where are you?!_

"The messenger is mine! A great actor, if I don't say a myself. Though, I must confess, I was surprised by how quickly you came. I thought you'd be a little more afraid," Hisoki confessed. "Or perhaps it is simply your foolishness. You've been relaxing far too much as of late, _Princess_ Izumi. And now you're out of practice, I see. Been breeding?" he taunted.

Izumi dodged a blast of white fire and tried her throwing knives but they melted in his flames. She dove forward and kicked up a tornado of blue flames to deter him, but he leapt right through nearly landing on top of her if she didn't roll to the side in time. She needed to exit and alert the guard of the infiltration. She switched to defensive maneuvers only and made her way to the window as deftly as she could.

"You cannot escape me, my dear Izumi!" Hisoki yelled as she leapt out of the raised window in a blast of blue flames. She felt something latch around her ankle and pull her back into the room, throwing her into the ground of the Chamber of Gold.

She rolled and checked her ankle but there was nothing there but an indent as if a shackle had cuffed her. That instant fraction of a second she took to investigate was enough for Hisoki to close the distance between them. She reached out with a charged dark hand to paralyze him, but he was faster. A flash of light flew over Hisoki's shoulder throwing her hand back. She felt her shoulder crack out of place and cried out in pain.

He rolled her onto her stomach, and she saw a lump of mangled gold securing her wrists to the floor of the Chamber. Izumi tried to push him off of her but found her ankles fixed to the ground by what felt like stone. She superheated the rock and melted the gold and broke her ankles and wrists free of the bindings, but before she could push him off, he planted a hand on the base of her spine and disabled her completely with an excruciating dose of _dark lightning_. She couldn't scream and couldn't move. All she could do was lay there, listening to him as he~~~~~~~~~~~~

He didn't kill her though. No. He was too weak. He was too foolish. He fell asleep, snoring beside her on the floor of the Chamber of Gold.

Izumi reached inside herself searching for that inner fire that saved her in the Si Wong Desert. Save her here, save her now! Please. She felt her body become hot. She saw a lock of hair that had fallen in front of her face turn blue and she knew she was free. She wiggled her fingers then wiggled her toes, then blasted her way out of those rock bindings. With nothing but loathing and death on her mind she towered over his limp body.

"You have been dead to me for years, and now you will be dead for the nation as well, officially, finally. I, Fire Princess Izumi, will personally see you destroyed. I will personally do it. And I won't make the mistake you did by hesitating to end my enemies," she said to his unresponsive form, raising two fingers aimed at his body. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ She took a deep breath and her blue hair returned to black and she let out a sigh of relief. Finally. Free. Finally. Peace.

Then she went to find the nearest guard, forcing tears to form in her eyes. "An assassin took my husband from me," she whimpered. The guard summoned others to inspect the Chamber of Gold and ushered Izumi straight to the throne room, to her father.

"He took one look at her burnt clothes and dismissed the meeting he was in, ordering everyone to leave.

"I'll take her, thank you-" Zuko said dismissing the last guard. "Zumi- what happened?"

"Hisoki came back," Izumi whispered in his ear as he held her against his body. "He came back, and he raped me, and…" she choked. "I killed him father. I did it with lightning."

* * *

Three months later Izumi was crying in the bathroom when Masaru returned home from work.

"I'm pregnant with HIS child, Saru," she informed him.

"How do you know?" Masaru asked, face fraught with worry.

"I know you were on a business trip for the three weeks leading up to the rape, and I know you didn't touch me for the entire week after your return because I was so shaken, so afraid of contact, and I know I then left for Republic City for four weeks. The timing," Izumi replied. "It has to be his. I'm so sorry."

"Izumi, don't apologize. You had no choice. He was a monster, Izumi. He was a monster and now he is gone."

"But his child lives on! It is growing inside of me!"

"It is still just a child. Like Iroh, it cannot not be blamed for the crimes of his or her father. You of all people should understand that after all your father went through with Ozai," Masaru reminded Izumi.

She relaxed only slightly.

"I guess you're right," she said sadly.

"I will love this child just like the rest of our children, because she is made by YOU, Izumi, and I love you," he said holding her hands while she sobbed in his arms. "And I know you will love it too, for it will still be half made out of you."

Izumi sniffled and nodded. "I'll try," she promised.

* * *

The next day, the Palace hosted a state funeral for Hisoki. Izumi and Iroh both had to wear all white in their state of mourning to honor Izumi's late husband whom they told the world was murdered by assassins on his first night back in the capital after a long journey he underwent to discover the secrets of firebending. Izumi had to stand beside fifteen year old Iroh and feign devastation while her father gave a eulogy falsely praising the monster that haunted her dreams. Even Hisoki's parents were allowed in the capital for the first time since being banished for condoning Hisoki's behavior on their wedding night. They stood on the other side of Zuko, away from Iroh and Izumi, thankfully. Izumi avoided making eye contact with Hana at all costs, afraid the truth of her murder and lack of remorse may be evident on her face.

"...but his memory lives on through his wife, his son, and his unborn second child…" Zuko finished waving a hand towards his pregnant daughter. Izumi lifted a hand to her face as tears escaped her eyes on the only appropriate day for a Princess to cry. Iroh wrapped his arms around his mother in a display of love and vulnerability before the entire nation.

"There, there, Mother. We'll be okay. We'll always have Uncle Saru," Iroh whispered, inaudible to everyone except her.

"Oh Iroh!" Izumi cried. "I'm sorry!"

"Don't apologize. You couldn't have known the assassins would come that night!" Iroh replied holding her, believing every detail of the official account of the death of Hisoki.

Izumi felt guilty for Iroh. He had been away at boot camp for the United Forces Army when Hisoki came. By the time news of his father's return reached the Prince, Hisoki was already dead. Iroh would grow up knowing near to nothing of his father, and the monster he became… and the unborn child in Izumi's womb, would know even less.

* * *

That night at Masaru's Estate, Toph sought out the princess.

"Hey, Kid," Toph said to Izumi as she took off her white funeral robes.

"Please, Aunt Toph, I really am not in the mood to talk to anybody,"

"Then don't talk. Just shut up and listen," Toph replied inviting herself in, sitting on the bed her own son shared with the princess.

"I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, Aunt Toph." Izumi said impatiently. "I just want to go to bed."

"It won't be lengthy. Trust me. I just wanted to say, all of this… pain… It will be so worth it in the end."

Izumi eyed her suspiciously, then shook her head. No, the old blind earthbender would never pull shit like this… like… making Hisoki reappear.


	26. A Princess is Born

**149AG**

"She's weakening," the new healer said working the water over the Princess's swollen belly. Akira was gone.

"Izumi, Zumi! You must keep trying!" Mai said holding her daughter's hand.

"I- can't," Izumi replied weakly, her grip on her parents' hands, nonexistent.

"Bring Saru here!" Mai ordered one of the midwives.

"But- he is not family-" the midwife protested. "Per tradition-"

"DO YOU DARE DEFY MY ORDERS WHILE MY CHILD IS DYING?!" Mai shrieked at the midwife. "FUCK TRADITION! FUCK IT ALL! IF YOU WANT THE CROWN PRINCESS TO LIVE, YOU WILL DO AS I SAY, OR BE SLAIN!"

The young woman bolted from the room as Mai and Zuko each clutched one of Izumi's hands.

Masaru ran in.

"Get ready to catch-" Masaru said placing one hand on Izumi's sweaty forehead, and one on her swollen belly.

"Sir?" the healer gasped, unfamiliar with Masaru's methods as Master Akira was. Unfortunately, the old healer passed away over a year ago. They were with a new healer now, and the new healer never before saw a man assist with the birth of a child in the way Masaru could.

"JUST DO AS I SAY!" Masaru yelled trying to remain calm amidst a panicked Mai and a petrified Zuko.

"Aunt Mai, keep her down," Masaru said. "If she wakes, it could hurt her," Masaru explained.

Mai bit her lip and nodded, placing a hand behind her daughter's neck, pressing down on a pressure point at the base of her brain that kept her asleep. Masaru did what he could to numb her senses from the waist down the best he could, then sent a surge throughout her lower abdomen. He knew her entire body like the back of her hand, he had every synapse of every nerve mapped. He helped deliver their five children, and he would help deliver this one of hers too.

Her body contracted violently and the child crowned.

Masaru had to work to keep Izumi's lungs breathing and her heart beating steadily while Mai kept her down.

A second surge, and the head of the baby was free.

"You're-" the healer began to say.

"Don't ask questions! Just catch the damn baby and make sure it LIVES! Make sure they BOTH LIVE, DAMMIT" Masaru barked.

The third jolt pushed the baby out and into the new healer's hands.

"A girl!" the healer exclaimed.

Mai let go of her daughter's neck with a sigh of relief and sat back in a chair, leaning one elbow on the arm of the chair and her head in that hand, with her free arm extended to touch her grown baby's breathing. It was incredibly, irregular and her heart was distressed.

"Did she lose a lot of blood?" Masaru asked the healer.

"Not too much," the head healer said tending to Izumi as one of the midwives tended to the baby. "She will live, but will need a long recovery," the healer said cleaning the princess's womanhood, and healing the lacerations the baby tore through her mother's body.

Izumi never looked paler than that day after severe blood loss.

Midwives wiped down the princess's sweaty body and placed the new baby on her chest.

Izumi's hand subconsciously moved inspect the new weight on her, feeling warmth.

Masaru zapped the baby very gently with his index finger, making the child scream and cry. Izumi woke and put both hands on it, in a panic.

"Shhh!" she hushed rubbing its back, and touching its temple, inspecting its tiny fists.

She looked up at her parents and Masaru standing around her all looking so… tired.

"I almost didn't make it," she realized, seeing their grief-stricken faces.

"Izumi," Zuko said slowly with a cracky voice, reaching out to put a hand on his daughter's still leg.

"Don't worry father," Izumi said stroking the baby's head slowly. "When I am much old, one of my children may unseat me, but none of them will ever be able to defeat me," Izumi replied smiling weakly.

Mai laughed nervously with tears streaming down her eyes. Masaru didn't laugh, though. He only cried, silently, with no expression to accompany the lines of salt on his cheeks.

"Boy or girl?" Izumi asked looking down at the little baby drooling on her breast, soothed now by Izumi's finger stroking her tiny head.

"Girl," Mai answered. Izumi's head fell back with devastation. Girl, and legitimate. The royal family had a new Princess.

"But your life will be nothing like mine. I promise you, I will not ever let you be abused. I will never let anybody hurt you. I'll be better," Izumi said, spreading her fingers to cover her new child more completely.

"I'm sorry, my love," Mai said, rubbing her daughter's head. The baby didn't respond. It only slept on her slowly rising and falling chest.

* * *

"Father, where is mother?" three-year-oldTetsuya asked, his father confused when his mother did not return home from work.

"She's just been… busy… at work lately," Masaru replied sadly.

"But she doesn't even come to sleep anymore," Tetsuya replied sadly. Takeo went to school, Rikuto went with Grandma Toph back to the Earth Kingdom for a month, and Sasuke went to Republic City with Great Uncle Sokka for a month leaving only the twins and Masaru at his estate, and they were lost without Izumi, lost and confused.

* * *

Izumi was on bed rest for two weeks, too weak to even stand on her own. Izumi told her father that Mai and Iliana were the only ones allowed to touch the new Princess. If anyone else came near her, Izumi would unleash her inner fire, and let them destroy whomever disobeyed.

Finally, she could stand again, and learn to walk again. She pushed harder than ever before to recover quickly. The baby had been bigger than the others, not quite perfectly positioned, but kept coming. It jostled her hips which had to be manually moved back into place. It had misaligned her spine and ruined a couple of other things. Even Master Katara from Republic City had to come to check on her conditions and make a few improvements.

Finally, she was healthy enough and more than ready to 'go home'. She was done with the palace, done with those grand yet damask rooms, done with the whispers of the maids and servants, and done with the never ending parade of people bowing to her and her new baby.

The little girl was nine months old by the end of Izumi's recovery. She knew her grandmother, she knew her mother, and she knew her mother's maid, Iliana. She didn't like her Grandfather's scar and refused to let him hold her since it scared her still at this age.

Izumi pulled on a simple, light pink dress with long, wide sleeves and a skirt that fell all the way to the floor, and then went to get her daughter.

"Ursa," Izumi breathed looking down at the baby girl sitting on her bed, staring back at her with those wide, innocent golden eyes that seemed to hate everyone except the three women in her life permitted to hold her. "Do you want to go on an adventure? Do you want to meet your brothers, my sweet girl?" Izumi asked the little princess.

Ursa put her arms up. Izumi picked up the little girl and propped her on her hip, placing a hand on the baby's neck, while the baby got comfortable in her arms again. Very comfortable.

Saru was right. Izumi DID love Ursa and would do anything for the babe. Anything… at… all… for she saw herself in this baby girl, and an opportunity to save her from the trials of the royal upbringing. Iroh was lucky being born a boy and a prince. He was expected to be energetic, get into fights, to travel the world learning and training. But a Princess? They expected her to know how to fight, but never allowed her to because it wasn't 'lady like'.

Izumi carried her beautiful little cherub through the castle and out to the courtyard where the entrance to the secret tunnel to Masaru's Estate was. She was almost at the courtyard when she was intercepted by none other than the five fire sages of the Capital Temple.

"We heard you were walking again, Princess Izumi." the head of the Fire Sages said coldly. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, now if you excuse me, I have somewhere to be," Izumi said trying to pass. They blocked her way.

"As Fire Sages, it is our responsibility to protect the members of the Royal Family. All of them. You can protect yourself, Princess Izumi, but not your baby. She must remain in the palace, under guard, until she is ready."

"You let me take Iroh outside the palace walls," Izumi reminded them, rage boiling.

"He is a Prince, not a Princess."

"She will be with me the whole time!"

"She is still a girl. Girls are not like boys,"

"She's a baby! It is not like she's going to get pregnant or something!"

"But you might."

Izumi lifted her hand and lit it with blue fire as baby Ursa watched in wonder.

"Stand down, Miu. I am going, and you cannot stop me," Izumi growled.

"You wouldn't dare engage with your daughter in your arms," Fire Sage Miu replied sternly.

"Watch me. Ursa, hold on," Izumi ordered. The nine-month-old obeyed, wrapping her short little arms around her mother's long skinny neck. Izumi held her bottom in the crook of her elbow, and supported her neck and head with her hand. Then in a flash, Izumi ducked under the Fire Sage's arm and did a sweep kick, swiping all of the fire sages off their feet with one nice, blade of flames. While they tried to reorient themselves, Izumi bolted into the tunnel, locking the entrance behind her, and sprinted to Masaru's estate. She emerged in the quiet courtyard.

 _If only I had Toph's seismic sense!_ Izumi thought. _Wait! Thermal signature!_ The princess sought out all sources of heat in the general proximity. The oven was lit and baking something. A fire place was on boiling a kettle of water for tea, and then in the resident halls, Masaru was reading with the twins flanking him.

Izumi ran as fast as she could without bouncing baby Ursa too much, but she missed her sons.

"Saru! Tetsu! Tatsu!" Izumi breathed when she entered the room.

The three boys looked up in disbelief. She worried for a moment that the twins wouldn't recognize her. They were only three years old when she 'left' and fifteen months had passed. The Palace authorities wanted to ensure she didn't 'overexert herself' during the pregnancy, and then make sure she made a full recovery before jumping head first back into politics, parenting, and fighting the Fire Sages on pretty much everything.

Tetsuya and Tatsuya both leapt off of the chair, Tetsuya landing on his feet and Tatsuya on his face as they raced to her.

"I've missed you SOOOO much!" Izumi cried wrapping them both with her free arm.

"What… I mean, who…" Tetsuya asked looking at baby Ursa.

"She's your sister," Izumi replied placing Ursa down on the carpet on her shaky little legs, supporting her baby belly.

Both twins studied this new creature intently. Tatsuya's face softened, but Tetsuya's didn't for some reason.

"She's… squishy?" Tetsuya said eyeing the baby suspiciously. Izumi giggled.

"She's CUUUUUTE!" Tatsuya screamed jumping up with a whirlwind of fire.

"Careful!" Izumi said pulling Ursa out of the line of fire, blocking it with her own bending.

"We don't know if Ursa is a bender, so we don't know if she can endure that type of heat like your Father and I can. You must be careful with your bending around her, okay?" Izumi asked of them.

"Yes mother," Tatsuya said, bowing.

"Good. Now, where were we? Father was reading you stories?" Izumi asked, joining Masaru on the couch.

"Yep!" Tetsuya said, flying into Izumi's lap while Tatsuya launched himself onto Masaru's.

* * *

153AG

Izumi only told her parents and Aunt Azula when Ursa started firebending and took over Ursa's training immediately and secretly in Azula's private quarter of the Palace.

"Okay, can you copy me, Ursa?" Izumi asked her daughter demonstrating one of the beginner forms. Ursa tried. Izumi couldn't help but laugh at her daughter's adorable attempts. Izumi got down on her knees and repositioned the girl's arms and legs for each position then had her try the form again. Better but still not good enough. Still she smiled and kept correcting the girl until she got it right.

"Princess Izumi," a voice called behind Izumi.

"Yes, Sage Miu-," Izumi asked irritably. For four years, the Fire Sages wisely kept their distance from the princesses, but now that Ursa had begun firebending, it was no surprise that they were once again trying to get involved.

"You will be pleased to know that we've found a firebending instructor for your daughter so that you may return to your father's side as Princess in training and heir to the throne-"

"My father was my first firebending instructor and agrees that I should be Ursa's. He can do without me for a year at least. He knows I am needed here, not on the throne for the time being," Izumi replied turning her daughter's wrist and bending her knee. The girl looked down.

"Focus, baby," Izumi said tilting the girl's chin up immediately. Precision was everything. Ursa looked forward. "Good, then middle punch, front side kick and hold the position."

Ursa kicked low then pivoted on her standing foot and kicked high and almost fell over. Izumi caught her side with one arm and her foot with the other. Holding the girl in place. She braced the child's standing leg against her knee and adjusted the little girl's foot position.

"Ow-" Ursa winced.

Normal pain that came with training. Nothing like what Izumi suffered in acrobatics and gymnastics. "You need to stretch more, Love," Izumi said letting go of the foot. "Hold it... five.. four... three... two... one... good. From the beginning." Izumi said standing up, towering over her four year old. Ursa started her form finishing with the high kick.

She gasped. "I did it! I did it and didn't fall on the kick at the end!" Ursa clapped her hands and jumped up and down like a little bean while Izumi smiled. The girl jumped into her mother's arms laughing.

"You should end your dorm with your head to the ground, bowing, Princess Ursa. Your mother will be Fire Lord one day and you need to treat her with respect."

"I suggest you practice what you preach, Miu," Izumi responded passive aggressively.

Ursa turned around, not used to being directly addressed by anybody. She scooted back, practically crawling into the space between Izumi's legs like a frightened, young penguin-otter, wrapping her mother's skirts around her for protection, eyeing the Fire Sages with distrust.

"She will grow up weak under your care!" Miu yelled.

"She won't be weak. She just won't be broken by the time she's seventeen!" Izumi argued.


	27. The Tournament

**154AG**

Izumi was at her desk sifting through her papers when she saw a note supposedly signed by her father with a list of firebending instructors for her to choose from for Ursa. She didn't believe it. Zuko of all people knew how important it was for Izumi to be able to train her daughter, and protect her. She knew almost all of the names on the list. Two were from Iroh's old school, two were retired generals who now ran the bootcamp for new army recruits in the capital, and one was from the Royal Academy for Girls on the other side of the dormant volcano.

It took all of Izumi's self-control to not burn the letter there in her office, so she did the second best thing she could think of and went to her father. Fortunately he was alone in his office, so she could just walk in without feeling guilty about interrupting somebody, not that she would care about interrupting a session anyways; she knew her father preferred her company to all of those ministers and generals anyways.

"Did you really sign this?" Izumi asked as she invited herself in, setting the letter down on top of whatever he was writing.

"Izumi, as much as I agree with you about needing to train Ursa, I must appease the majority of my councilors. They still have greater trust in the old war lords, generals, and soldiers to teach the martial art as opposed to a diplomat-"

"Is that what they think I am? Just a diplomat? They think I can't teach my daughter because I haven't seen battle?"

"Izumi-"

"I was trained in firebending by the Dragon of the West, and then briefly by the woman who was ALMOST-Fire-Lord-at-age-fourteen. A smart person may learn from his mistakes in battle and improve, but like to think I'm wise enough to learn from other people's experiences. Father, I can superheat my flame to over thirty thousand degrees! I have mastered dark and standard lightning generation and redirection. I learned secrets of our art from the dragons AND the Desert-"

"Izumi-"

"Father, if they think battle history is the only qualification for someone to teach firebending, let me prove my prowess!Give me the opportunity to try, at least-"

"I'm not going to start a war just so my ONLY child can shoot herself in the foot!"

"You don't need to! We can have a tournament in the Agni Kai Chamber. I can fight them all, and I can beat them all in an Agni Kai. Please, Father."

Zuko reclined in his chair and rubbed his head. Izumi sat tall with her back straight, her delicate wrists resting on the arms of the chair.

Zuko looked at his daughter before him. At the age of fifteen, she convinced her mother to loan her five million yuans. She started an underground, team-oriented, bending tournament circuit that brought together competitors and spectators from all three nations (at the time). She secretly competed with Kya and some girl named Rona for two whole years before Zuko found out, and in that time was undefeated. She was smart, using a fake name in case she actually did lose a match so she would never bring shame on the family.

When she was seventeen, she said goodbye to her true love as he joined the army, and took on most of the Princess Duties she still maintained today. She accepted her role in the Royal Family as a provider of heirs since Mai couldn't bear anymore children after her. She endured an unhappy marriage for her family's image, and for her country's inspiration.

When she was twenty three years old, she lost both her child and her husband husband, and still she managed to stay calm. She tried to find her husband, failed, and moved on. She may not be a decorated soldier in some army, but she was not weak as so many of the ministers and generals believed. She didn't fight for the sake of fighting but with a purpose. She was not a conqueror, but a protector.

Izumi knew she had the upper hand now. It was as if she could see her father's brain firing through his eyes as he considered all of his options and all of the possible repercussions of such a tournament.

"Very well, we will have a tournament. Do you need any time to prepare? Get back into shape or-"

"Father, really? Do really think that after all I have been through, that I would be foolish enough to allow my body to weaken? Have the tournament tomorrow, or today if the generals are ready," Izumi replied contemptuously.

"Very well. I'll see about tomorrow morning," Zuko decided.

Izumi took a deep breath. She had a chance at keeping Ursa.

* * *

"You're an idiot, Izumi," Azula said standing in the doorway of her dear niece's bedroom.

"I'm not an idiot. I'm a mother of a little girl that needs protecting at this age." Izumi replied as Iliana wrapped her chest flat with a deep crimson strip of fabric. "Ow! Why can't you just wrap it normally?"

"Your breasts will distract your opponents," Iliana explained.

"Shouldn't I use the distraction to my advantage?" Izumi asked.

"You're a Princess, not a harlot. If you're to win this tournament fairly, you must do it with your raw fighting ability. Not your natural beauty," Iliana said to Izumi.

She huffed and crosses her arms over her flattened chest. Izumi tied up all of her hair up in a perfect bun and then headed over to the Agni Kai Chamber.

"Wait!" A voice called.

"Saru? What are you doing here?"

"All of Fire nation's high society was invited. And I so happen to be the largest employer in our country, the second wealthiest, a former military man, a philanthropist, and former ward of the Fire Lord and Fire Lady. But that's besides the point. May we have a moment alone please?"

"It's not very proper, but alright," Iliana said giving Izumi's arm a squeeze before leading the guards away.

"I just wanted to remind you to stay in control of yourself. You have nothing to fear, Izumi. Find peace and everything will come to you. You're not a killer. You're not a conqueror. You're doing this to protect Ursa, no more," Masaru said as they approached the Agni Kai Chamber. "And..." he pulled a lock of hair out of her bun and hung it in her face, over her left eye. "Monitor this- if it turns blue," he paused. "You know what to do."

"Thank you, Saru," Izumi said, embracing him. She quickly glanced up and down the halls then jumped to kiss him quickly on the lips. "Now go to your seat before somebody sees!" Izumi said shoving him towards the spectator doors. The master of ceremony came out to drape the ceremonial cape that Izumi would drop just before facing her first opponent.

Izumi bent down on one knee with the single lock of hair dangling just left of her nose. The Agni Kai Chamber was filled to maximum capacity. All of the Council of Generals, the Council of Ministers, the Fire Sages, and the ambassadors from the other three nations were in attendance with what sounded like at least eight hundred or so first class Fire Nation Citizens all snickering about the 'utter absurdity of the situation'.

"What unfitting behavior for a Princess!"

"She should be ashamed!"

"She's foolish for wanting to train her daughter!"

"A woman's place is in the bed, not on a stage!"

Izumi clenched her fists, and saw blue streak the lock of her hair hanging in her face.

 _You are in control! Don't listen to them. You fight for peace. You fight for your daughter's happiness. You are not a conqueror. You are a protector, Izumi. Your fire is light, not destruction._

The master of ceremony ordered them to stand, face each other and bow.

Izumi's first opponent must have been at least a foot and a half taller than her, and four times the weight. But Izumi would be faster, she knew already. Because they were no longer in the old regime, they would fight until submission OR until one person was physically "thrown from the ring".

As they straightened up again, they shrugged off their capes. Izumi could hear more gasps and murmurs from crowd and practically feel her father's angst.

"Look at her body!"

"Look at her waist."

"She doesn't stand a chance."

"We are going to lose our Crown Princess today."

"It is a good thing her first child is of age and able to take her place…"

 _You're not a conqueror. You're a protector._ Izumi said focusing on her breathing. _Remember the basics!_

Her opponent struck first.

 _Big mistake._

Rather than break the fire, Izumi evaded. She dove under the flames to get closer to the man. He was startled more than anything by the proximity of the princess. Izumi looked up at him with her narrow golden tangerine colored eyes for only a fraction of an instant then dove between his legs so that they were back to back. He tried to kick up a flame behind himself, but Izumi slid to the side, so the man only succeeded in burning the back of his own head. While he lurched forward, Izumi did a powered wheel kick and threw him from the ring in a quick, half minute match.

 _Next opponent,_ Izumi thought. She stood up straighter, letting her open hands fall by her sides while the next general came to face her. Izumi knew she had to be smart. She had to beat all of the candidates, all fifty of them. Since they all watched from the crowd until their turn, Izumi knew she had to be creative and not give her style away. She could not give them enough time or information for them to learn her. Fortunately, her style was having a lack of style. She could evade like Tenzin, she could bend and turn like Kya. She could stand sturdy, block, wait and listen like Lin, and firebend like Masaru.

"She moves like a waterbender!"

"She moves like an earthbender!"

"She moves like an airbender!"

"She moves like an avatar!"

"And to think that that body has had two children already!"

 _Seven,_ thought Masaru with a satisfied grin. _That body has had seven children, and five of those were mine!_

Izumi kicked up a wheel of blue fire, lifting her opponent up at least twenty feet into the air. As he fell down again, she ran towards him, jumping up and kicking him off the ring without any fire, just pure momentum and perfect timing.

 _Next._

They were adding people to the tournament line-up hoping for someone to unseat the Princess as the champion. _They are going to run her until she collapses_ , Masaru realized as they pitched a fifty first opponent against his lady at the end of the second straight hour. To the crowd, the Princess was invincible. She showed no signs of tiring. Sure, her smooth, pale skin glistened with sweat and her usually flawless complexion was marred by dark bruises and abrasions from falling and sliding across the stone floor, but she always got back up. Her true state could only be noticed by Masaru and probably Mai. The way she bit her lower lip, the way she picked at the nail on her ring finger with the thumb of the same hand, the way her spine started to slouch, and her right leg became heavy were all signs of her tiring. Izumi wiped her forehead with the back of her arm then snorted and spit on the edge of the ring, right in front of a noblewoman who leapt back in disgust.

"And the next opponent is General Khoa Minh-" the master of Ceremony began to say.

"Bullshit!" Izumi called out, speaking for the first time in front of everybody. "Ren was the fiftieth and he failed to defeat me!"

 _So she has been keeping count._ Masaru was impressed.

"There has been a change in roster," the master of ceremony said.

Izumi shot a glare at the head of the Fire Sages, Miu.

She spat again eliciting more shocked gasps from all the noblewomen in the room and bent down into her open palmed fighting stance. Masaru had to do something, to save her from either hurting herself, or falling into her own flames. He pulled a notepad out of a concealed pocket and wrote, "add me to the line up-Masaru Lee" and handed it to the assistant taking volunteers.

Izumi rolled under her opponent's arm getting behind him. As he turned, she kicked him in the jaw. There was a sickening crack and a the man lost two teeth and spit out blood. He lunged for the princess who cartwheeled backwards like an acrobat and ducked as a flame flew towards her face. She split it only to get a foot to the gut. She flew back about twelve feet almost sliding off the edge of the stage. She needed to recenter. She played evasive trying to get back, to pass him, but he was angry. She needed to land a blow on him somewhere weak, which on someone so buffed, was his face and his face only. She dodged several more attacks, then shot lightning at him. Lightning was especially draining which is why Izumi spent so much time waiting and evading landing precise blows to knock out her opponents, but she was already tiring.

Her opponent dodged. _He can't redirect it,_ both Izumi and Masaru noticed.

 _Get close, Zumi!_ Masaru yelled in his head.

Izumi thought the exact same way. With one last burst, she flipped over his head, barely grazing his shoulder with the tip of her finger and blasted him with a wave of non-visible dark lightning, paralyzing him. He fell to the ground with a thud.

"Next opponent," the master of ceremony said. The attendant waved for Masaru to come on stage.

Masaru climbed onto it from the side instead of entering from the back.

"Mr. Masaru Lee, of Earth and Fire Refineries,"

Izumi froze. Masaru unbuttoned his suit jacket and his shirt and tossed it aside as Izumi turned. Shock and annoyance flashed across Izumi's face before Masary shot her a condescending look. _Control yourself!_ He reminded her with his eyes.

She looked down and away as he kicked off his shoes and bent into his sparring stance.

They faced each other. Masaru smirked knowing that even though the Princess was undefeated thus far, he would have the upper hand in this fight.

Izumi knew it too which only made her angrier. Neither opponent struck first and the murmurs ensied. Both fighters knew the other's entire arsenal of moves. Both knew the other's style even though nobody else did. Both had knowledge of dark lightning which appeared to only be performed proficiently by four people in the world.

Masaru flashed back to when he was five years old and that same little Princess standing before him came bounding towards him with the biggest, most innocent smile on her face.

 _"SARU! SARU! Look what I can do!" she yelled. She stopped running, pulled her hands back in an almost fist, leaving two fingers on each straight and shot lightning at him, nearly killing him._

 _It was in that fleeting instant that masaru had to remember how to redirect it. He knew the motions. He had seen Great Uncle Iroh do it so many times, but he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing inside, or how to focus his energy like with firebending. Somehow, he managed to redirect it at the sky._

The grown princess now standing before him must have been thinking the same thing, because in that instant, lightning came right at him.

In the memory, Masaru fell to his knees, overwhelmed by the energy the Little Princess shot through his body. They were scolded by Great Uncle Iroh for playing with something so dangerous unsupervised. It was too risky a technique for a child to try. Yet somehow, they survived.

Masaru took in the beam of energy. He was stronger now and would not fall to his knees like he did then. When Izumi expected him to shoot it at the ceiling of the chamber or even at the wall behind him, he didn't. He surprised her, shooting it right back. He didn't strike her directly. That would have been far too easy for the prodigious Princess to redirect. No, he shot it at her feet, too low for her to redirect, and too fast for her to be able to move forward and intercept it.

With no other option, Izumi blocked the blast with a shield of blue fire. Still, the force was strong enough to knock her back off her feet. She bounced onto her side and rolled. She looked up at him. He showed no expression of relief or remorse. Only determination to win.

Izumi didn't jump up as quickly as she did with her other competitors. Was she FINALLY tired? No. She never wanted to hurt Masaru, and she couldn't believe he would almost hurt her. She was stunned.

Others would have kicked the bitch while she was down, but not Masaru. He waited for her to recover. They clashed with blue and red fire, lightning generation and lightning redirection for what felt like hours.

"Watch your back, Princess," Masaru said landing a blow on the back of her leg. She fell and roared with annoyance as she rolled forward and turned sending a fistful of flames towards his face which he fanned aside with his hand. She jumped up and got behind him.

"Watch YOURS!" she yelled.

No! He knew what she was going to do the instant before she did it. With a series of rapid jabs, she disabled his arm of its bending. Then his other, then his legs and then pounded his spine, eliminating the possibility of him breathing fire. She took an instant too long to breathe though.

"Forgive me, Princess, you leave me no choice," Masaru said hearing her panting behind him.

He ducked avoiding a wheel kick aimed at his head with the force of a knockout. He turned, backhanding her in the jaw with his right hand and then swept her standing leg out from under her with his left. As she became horizontal, planted his left hand on her flat, toned abdomen and forced her down, slamming her on her back, onto the ground, knocking the air from her lungs, finishing the match and winning.

Izumi crumpled and gasped for air. The entire hall held its breath. Zuko, the Fire Sages, and even Mai stood up, shocked, but didn't say anything. Masaru stood up taller, and feigned pity on her convulsing form on the arena floor then turned and stared directly into Zuko's eyes, and bowed respectfully.

Satisfied with the businessman's unexpected ruthlessness, a majority of the crowd stood and clapped.

"Congratulations, Mr. Lee," the master of ceremony said lifting Masaru's hand while attendants rushed over to help the Crown Princess to her feet again. She glared at Masaru with a busted lip and a bruised cheek and wiped her face with the back of her arm leaving behind a smear of blood.

He pretended to ignore her as the attendant went to fetch Iliana and the Princess Ursa who had been spared having to watch such a horrible tournament.

Ursa looked up at Masaru with curiosity first, having never seen his bare chest before. Then she turned to her mother who was slightly bent over, with her hand and face smeared with blood from her busted lip.

Ursa stepped back, away from both of them, not sure what to make sense of this new and unusual situation.

"Princess Ursa, please meet your new firebending master, Mister Masaru Lee," the master of ceremony said bowing deeply.

Ursa looked up at her Uncle Saru with apprehension.

"One thing you should know, Princess," Masaru said bending down to Ursa's level. "You must always be prepared to make sacrifices for the ones you love," he said to the girl. "We start tomorrow. I must first speak to your mother about where you are now." Masaru turned to Izumi.

Izumi yanked her hand free of the attendants and stormed out of the hall.

Masaru turned to Zuko who waved for him to go after her, while the Fire Sages looked on suspiciously.

He ran through the seldom traveled halls and secret passageways through the walls of the palace to get to Izumi.

"We need to talk!" he yelled catching up with Izumi in a hall of Azula's Quarter.

"You HUMILIATED me in front of my entire nation!" Izumi growled wiping more blood off her face with her bare forearm.

"IZUMI!" he grabbed her wrist. Chi blocked or not, he was stronger, and she didn't hate him enough to burn him. "Listen to me, please! I didn't want to humiliate you, but you gave me no choice! I did it for Ursa. The Fire Sages would have put people against you until you collapsed from exhaustion. Even if you won the tournament today, they would have done the same thing a month from now and again later. They will fight you until you couldn't fight any longer and then they will whisk away your baby and ship her off to boarding school or something. They hate you! It is no secret! They will not rest until they have Ursa in their hands to brainwash into a little… traditional… imperialist monster! This is the only way! I will be kind to her, I promise. You KNOW I would never hurt either of you unless I absolutely have to, like today."

Izumi looked down and watched a drop of blood fall from her lip and splash on the ground.

"Singe a single hair on her little head," Izumi began to threaten.

"And I am dead, I know. Don't worry, Zumi," Masaru said with a warm smile.

Izumi glared at him and then walked away.

* * *

The next day, Masaru came to the palace dressed not in a suit but his training clothes.

Izumi had been cleaned up, her lip stitched, and was dressed in her Princess Robes to supervise the first lesson with the Fire Sages also in attendance. Masaru started by making the girl run liners to warm up. She was only five years old, but he knew he had to be harsh in front of the Fire Sages.

The girl nearly collapsed. he prescribed certain amounts of water for her to drink and controlled when she drank it. He held her feet still with his foot while she did push ups and sit ups. Izumi made her already a strong girl but she was still not quite strong enough.

"When do we get to the actual firebending?" the princess asked impatiently, panting.

"When you can control your breathing," Masaru replied with no expression. "Fire comes from the breath Little Princess, and you're already struggling," Masaru said. "Liners again. Twenty laps." He ordered.

"I won't!" Ursa yelled sitting on the floor. Tantrums worked at _home_.

"Ursa," Masaru bent down on one knee. "You love your mother, right?"

"Yes,"

"If you don't listen to me now and do your liners, I will strike her," Masaru said to Ursa.

Ursa's eyes bulged as she looked up at him in surprise.

"See her lip?" Masaru asked. "I did that and I can do that again." Masaru threatened.

Ursa jumped up and ran to complete her liners.

Izumi looked on with shock and disapproval but the Fire Sages seemed satisfied.

"You are going to traumatize her with your threats! She will hate you!" Izumi yelled at him after the lesson.

"More or less than those other brutes in the tournament against you?" Masaru argured. Izumi didn't respond. "Don't worry. Ursa doesn't hate me yet. And she won't. I have a plan, Izumi. If you just trusted me—"

"How can I trust you when you so easily brutalized me in the tournament and clearly took no issue with with using me to threaten my daughter right before my eyes?"

Masaru sighed, he knew she was right and let her go.

* * *

Izumi didn't speak to him when she came to visit the twins daily. She didn't sleep over after she put Tetsu and Tatsu to bed. She didn't even look at him if she could avoid it.

The twins were now sparring with young Ursa when she came to play with them.

It was Masaru's time to watch all of the babes. "Lu, Yen, could you supervise the twins while I have a word with my pupil?" Masaru asked his two co-captains of his personal estate guard.

"Of course, Sir," the two guards said taking a break from their rounds to join the boys in the courtyard.

"Ursa, may I speak with you, child?" Masaru asked separating her from the twins.

"Mhm?" Ursa said bounding after him with her two free locks of hair that framed her face, bouncing in the breeze.

"I need to talk to you about your firebending training," Masaru said choosing a room next to where Izumi was 'working from home.'

"Yes?"

"You need to start training on your own and doing extra stretching and running. All of it," he said.

Ursa looked at him curiously. "Why?"

"Because when we train at the Palace and the Fire Sages are there, I have to be meaner. Each week I must increase the rigor of your training. I have to push harder. I know the training hurts, but the more you do it, the easier it gets."

"Really?" Ursa asked, wide-eyed, believing him completely.

"Yes. But even if it gets easier, you still have to pretend to hate me."

"Why?"

"Because if the Fire Sages see either of us show any weakness for the other, they will take you away and have you train with somebody who is actually mean. If you love your mother and if you want to continue to see Tetsuya, Tatsuya, and me, you have to train and learn to act vicious. Feign pain. I don't want you to actually suffer, Ursa. I love you and want to keep you safe."

"Thank you, Uncle Saru," Ursa said, hugging him.

"Now let me see your warrior face, Princess," Masaru said.

"Grrrr..." Ursa said, smiling.

"Nice effort but you can't kill with cuteness. You need to ROAR like a tigerdillo!"

"Roar!" Ursa tried throwing her arms up in the air like claws but falling backwards onto the carpet. "Ouf!"

Masaru laughed at her and she smiled.

"Like this:" Masaru roared breathing fire.

"Fire can come out of your mouth too?" Ursa gasped.

"Yes!" Masaru said picking the child up gently and placing her back on her feet.

"ROAR!" Ursa yelled, also breathing fire.

"Better! But don't smile after and never look for approval. Know who you are and what it is you are capable of doing! I want you to snarl!" He said, growling with his eyebrows scrunched up and his eyes narrowed.

Ursa's attempt to mimic him could not have been cuter.

Izumi couldn't stifle her giggle. Both turned.

"Heya, Zumi— how long have you been standing there?" Masaru asked.

"Long enough," Izumi replied, entering the room and striding over to Masaru's side.

"Mother look! I can roar now!" Ursa yelled demonstrating.

"Very nice love, but you're still smiling," Izumi said patting her head while she hugged Izumi's leg.

"Oh! Right! Grrrr," Ursa growled.


	28. Losing

**155AG**

Izumi just finished the final draft of an arms supply agreement with the 54th division of the Earth Kingdom Army. The treaty of Yu Dao in 100AG ordered that the Fire Nation maintain an army of no more than 5 million active personnel and 20 million reserve personnel in times of peace. Their navy could maintain no more than 100 active vessels and their air force no more than 350 armored airships and 800 war balloons. It was because of the restrictions that the mechanists and engineers of the country were so driven to innovating new artillery to maintain the strength of the Fire Nation's reduced military in the event any other nation decided to exploit their restrictions to reap vengeance on the former imperial state.

Whenever a an airship or a battleship was rendered obsolete, it was sold to another nation. The Water Tribes, still exponentially less wealthier than the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom could only afford to buy vessels as they were able, converting most of them into cargo and passenger ships to create one of the most extensive sea trading routes in history. Regional warlords in the Earth Kingdom, however, were the biggest customers of the Fire Nation's surplus artillery left over from the war to defend themselves from each other since their Queen, Hou-Ting only seemed to concern herself with the proceedings of Ba Sing Se's upper ring. Even if the entire Earth Kingdom pooled their collection of old Fire-Nation-made weaponry, they could not even hope to overwhelm the current, more advanced machinery in possession by the Fire Nation Army

Izumi ran her fingers through her loose hair and signed the document before picking up a fan out of her desk drawer to dry the ink. She replaced the fan, folded the parchment, and then sealed it with a bit of red wax and a stamp bearing her own seal of approval. She leaned back and rubbed her eyes and took a breath. Military proceedings were not as excruciatingly boring as social proceedings, but nonetheless still agonizingly tedious. She took a deep breath, tied her hair up again and replaced her crown before picking up the stack of finished letters to take to take to the mailroom. In the past, a Prince or Princess would have a secretary do such a menial thing, but not Izumi. She needed to stretch her legs.

 _There, last task for the day!_ She dropped the letters in and then began heading for her private quarters where she would change into something more comfortable and go check on her daughter's lessons with Masaru, when she was intercepted by a Palace messenger.

"The Fire Lord requests your presence as soon as convenient," the messenger informed the Princess.

"Where?" Izumi asked curtly. If it was just for a chat, they would speak over dinner. If it regarded the Avatar or his family, they would meet in person over tea or in one of each other's offices. If it were something to which he believed Izumi would not agree, it was-

"The Throne Room, Princess," the messenger replied.

Izumi closed her eyes for a brief moment and drew a breath. "Tell him I'll be right there," Izumi responded.

"Yes, Princess," the messenger bowed and hurried off.

 _What could he possibly want now?_ Izumi groaned to herself before following.

The number of guards that stood before the wall of flames that divided the Fire Lord from his subjects had been doubled in Izumi's absence. She hadn't been in the throne room for months as she preferred to speak to her father as a daughter and not a servant. "Princess Izumi, my Lord," the royal scribe announced from his desk to the side of the main galley. Izumi took a knee and bowed to her father.

"You called for me?"

"I did," Zuko's voice rang out above the flames, echoing throughout the chamber. "It has been decided that Princess Ursa will continue her firebending training and other studies under the distinguished instructors of the Royal Academy for Girls, like her predecessors, and not under the tutelage of Masaru Lee-"

"No," Izumi replied shaking her head in disbelief. "NO!" Izumi yelled, taking over the fiery wall that her father lit in the room, turning it blue and fueling it to hit the ceiling in her rage.

"Izumi!" Zuko scolded her, jumping through it as the guards split.

"Everyone else that isn't Father, LEAVE!" Izumi yelled.

"You do not command anybody in my presence!" Zuko replied.

"Why? You do not trust me? You gave your word that after the tournament, this discussion would be OVER!"

"After much deliberation, we have all agreed that it would be best for Ursa to go, so that she can make friends her own age."

"We or Miu, Father? Answer me honestly!"

Zuko ignored her question. "Was it not your primary complaint growing up in this damask palace that you were lonely?"

Izumi was fuming. She and Zuko could feel her temperature rising.

"Everybody leave!" Zuko ordered the guards and the scribes as the blue fire in the trough kept growing.

They all scampered out.

"Where is she?" Izumi demanded, hair turning completely blue like her fire.

"Already gone," Zuko replied regretfully.

"No… NO!" Izumi yelled, slamming her fists down on the floor of the Throne room.

Zuko shielded himself as her blue fire exploded, blasting the ceiling off of the room and destroying all of the pillars, burning everything. Zuko watched her cry, not strong enough a bender to get through her heat barrier. Above the cracking of the walls and foundation, the sound of a dragon came through Izumi's fire. Her dragon, Eiko, had gone to fetch Masaru from his estate. The Princess's lover jumped off of the dragon's back and crouched beside his lady, wrapping one arm over her shoulders and placing the other arm across her body. Only he could ever endure the heat of her pain.

Zuko watched as one of Masaru's hands moved to her back and the other moved to her abdomen. Izumi nodded to something he said that Zuko couldn't hear. The fires all extinguished with one wave of heat, leaving behind only the charred remains of the foundation of the Fire Nation Throne Room. Masaru kissed the top of her head and reminded her to breathe before standing, leaving her kneeling on the scorched floor with her arms wrapped over her torso, protectively.

"Thank you, Masaru," Zuko said with a nod.

"You sent Ursa away?" he asked.

"After much consideration-" Zuko began to explain.

"You were only doing what you thought was best for your family and your country. I understand and respect your decision. Zumi will too, eventually," he replied, looking down at her.

* * *

That evening, Izumi sat in her mother's quarters on the lounger farthest from the fireplace, her body wrapped in a blanket saturated with ice-water to cool her down. She leaned on Masaru's side as he draped an arm over her shoulder and across her body. Mai sat watching the fire burn blue in the fireplace as she sipped her cup of tea, avoiding her daughter's distant scowl while Azula sat in an armchair studying the overheating princess intently. Zuko entered the parlor in his night clothes and poured a cup for himself.

"I am sorry, Izumi," he repeated.

She refused to respond or acknowledge her father.

"Princess, the special tea that you asked for," a maid said, entering and handing Izumi the cup. She smelled it for poisons as she was always trained to do with anything she didn't prepare herself and took a sip.

"Thank you Rin," Izumi replied with a nod, snuggling up tighter against Masaru's body. The servant bowed and left the parlor.

"What makes the tea special?" Zuko asked.

Izumi refused again to answer.

"Milk of the poppy. It's moons tea to stop her cycle so she can't conceive."

"Why?" Zuko asked.

"So I don't ever have to split my soul into another piece only for it to be robbed from me," Izumi growled with the cup close to her lips. She shivered under the cold, wet blanket, but it was necessary.

"I could just slow your heart down, but I know you don't like that," Masaru whispered in her ear. She stilled herself under the blanket and allowed the exchange of her heat with the cold of the blanket.

"I heard a rumor the Throne Room got blown up for the first time since Great Grandfather Roku confronted Great Grandfather Sozin about the first of the Fire Nation Colonies," Azula said with a somewhat amused tone in her voice.

"It was not my intention to become so… destructive," Izumi replied.

"Don't feel bad. Dear little Zuzu was an ass to you. I would have done the same thing if someone took my baby away. Spirits forgive me, I would have torched the entire capital city until I got my way," Azula laughed, coming to kneel beside Izumi where she curled up against Masaru. Izumi remained scowling. "In all seriousness, though, Zumzu. Everything happens for a reason. If life were so easy, we would become bored, restless, reckless and even more destructive than we are already simply to entertain ourselves. There is something to be said for having some amount of strife in lives. Your father and I have both had to struggle and fight in our young lives and that is what's made us strong, helped us become able to make the decisions we make today. Coddling your babies will only put them at a disadvantage in the long run. We're not trying to hurt you, Izumi. We just understand a little better what it means to make sacrifices for the ones we love. The pain is temporary, trust me."

Izumi took a breath and exhaled, making her wet blanket steam.

"I'm going to get another one," Masaru said, standing up and taking the blanket to exchange it with another soaking in the tub of ice water.

"We love you, Izumi, even if sometimes it seems like we don't. The Academy is tough, but it still has some redeeming qualities. If I didn't go, I would have never met your wonderful Mother, and she wouldn't have ever met your Father, and you wouldn't exist, darling. Maybe Ursa will make some life-long friends there too. Give her the chance to meet people, and become something, sweet little Zumi," Azula asked.

Izumi glared down at her, but seemed to relax at least a little. Masaru draped another chilling blanket over her Izumi, and Azula laughed.

"What now?" Izumi asked.

"It's just that-it takes so much to control your fire. You're a special bender, Izumi. You possess an incredible power, one that no one has ever seen before, but with that incredible power comes incredible responsibility," Azula reminded the girl.

"I know," Izumi replied.

"You have to be careful."

"You all have to be careful with me. I am a bomb just waiting to explode."

"Waiting to?" Azula laughed. "Darling, you've already exploded. What do you call that display earlier today?"

"Nothing compared to the desert event," Izumi replied.

Azula reached up and ran her fingers through Izumi's streaked hair. "If that is so, then I think it is time for us to start training again." Azula turned to her brother. "Zuzu, I'm stealing your Princess for a week starting tomorrow. We're going on a trip."

Izumi looked up, shocked but not surprised. She just hoped it didn't involve posing as pirates.

* * *

The next day, Aunt and Niece traveled on the back of Izumi's dragon to a remote location in the Northern Tundra.

"What is this place?" Izumi asked as they landed on a wooden barge.

"Your training ground. Here, we keep our highest security prisoners deep underground. The extreme temperatures prohibits them from firebending," Izumi explained.

"And what does that mean for us?" Izumi asked her aunt.

"Our fires naturally burn hotter than others as seen in the blue color. We should be unaffected." Azula replied as they approached the doors guarded by two waterbending Fire Nation soldiers.

Azula took off her hood and motioned for Izumi to do the same.

The guards both bowed and opened the massive doors to the prison.

"Why are the doors so big if you don't want the prisoners escaping?" Izumi asked.

"Because most of these prisoners were delivered in the mouths of a dragon, Zumi," Azula replied as the pair stepped into the lift.

Izumi could feel the temperature plunging as the lift descended into the fissure in the glacier where the prison had been constructed.

"Warm yourself, girl, you'll need it." Azula said, rubbing Izumi's back.

The Crown Princess rubbed her hands together and blew a blue fire into them.

"You can show your true colors here. Most of these prisoners are on either death row or possess life sentences, so none of them can spill your little secret," Azula said, running her gloved fingers through Izumi's dark wavy hair that hung over her red parka.

Izumi blew the flame in her hand a little bit bigger and released a bit of her inner fire, turning her hair blue.

The lift finally came to a stop nearly a quarter mile below the surface of the glacier and opened.

"What's happening?"

"A rescue?"

"An extra meal?"

"Not even in your dreams Denkuo!"

"It's just two ladies!"

"Oh! Ladies."

"I can feel one of them all the way from here. She on fire or something?"

"Just about. Her hair's even glowing!"

"Like an avatar?"

"But Aang's still alive, ain't he?"

"Nah. Died three years ago, and this girl ain't look three years old, do she?"

"Aunty, where are you taking me?" Izumi asked.

"Here, I thought I'd start you off on a light weight," Azula replied, stopping at a marked cell.

"A lightweight?" Izumi asked.

Azula pulled out a set of keys and opened the door.

"NO! PLEASE!" the small man screamed curling up against the far wall in a nest of blankets.

"Relax, my niece will be much gentler than me!" Azula said to the man.

"Azula!" Izumi exclaimed. "I'm not going to torture him, if that is what you're thinking!"

"No, you're going to heal him! I will be doing the torturing," Azula replied.

"No! I cannot!"

"You can and you will, Izumi. You don't have a choice. You know how electrical impulses travel throughout the body. You know the nature of cell signalling. You know the structure of the brain, and you have a heart that is far greater than mine. If you are truly merciful, you will help this man, and erase his traumatic memories OF ME!" Azula said kneeling, planting a hand on the side of the man's head, electrocuting his body.

"STOP!" Izumi screamed aiming her lightning at Azula.

Azula redirected it into the metal wall of the prison cell, electrocuting everyone in that row except Izumi. Izumi covered her ears from the blood curdling screams that emanated from all of the cells in the row.

"Well thank you for making that so much easier," Azula said with a sick smile. She opened the door of the cell leaving the crumpled man convulsing on the floor and locking the door behind her.

"Azula!" Izumi screamed banging her fists on the door, tears streaming down her face, hair blazing.

"Tell me when you've successfully suppressed the right memories," Azula said tossing the keys in the air and catching them as she walked to the cell across the way.

"Hello, Artik! Remember me?"

"Please do-" then screams.

Izumi banged her fists on the door again then turned to the whimpering man on the floor and bent down.

"Please- don't touch me!"

"I promise I won't hurt you," Izumi said with tears in her eyes as she reached for his wrinkled face.

"No-" she touched his temple and mapped his entire system, including his brain, searching for the most active area within the memory cortex, and inhibited the signalling through it.

Izumi winced as she heard a third person's scream echoing throughout the icy fissure as her Aunt visited a third cell. Izumi watched the man's grimace relax as she finished the process of burning closed the synapses in the brain that contained the memory.

"Aunt Azula! I think I've got it!" she called standing up, looking down at the man.

"Are you a doctor?" he asked Izumi.

"No, just a firebender."

Azula threw open the door with a loud thud that made Izumi's heart skip a beat. He looked over Izumi's shoulder.

"I thought all of the guards were waterbenders, why did they send Fire Nation down here. Are we finally being set free?" the man asked obliviously.

Izumi looked down at him with pity.

"'Fraid not," Azula said with a sly grin, grabbing Izumi by the arm, yanking her out of the cell and slamming the door shut again.

"You're CRUEL!"

"And you're not, so undo my work for me! Just be a little more careful. You might have closed off too large a part of that guy's memory. He seemed far to ditsy than I would have preferred," Azula said.

"I don't even know what I am doing."

"And that's why we practice. These people are monsters, Izumi. Monsters like my father, like me. Because of their life sentences, they will never spill your precious little secret, so don't be afraid to keep trying. Perfect these techniques; perfect these applications of dark lightning. As such a powerful bender, it is your responsibility to not only to master your craft but to push the limits of fire and lightning. You were blessed with this power because of your heart and your ability to exercise restraint. You WILL use it to help people. You just need to trust yourself, then wait and see."

They entered the next cell together to treat a victim of the second-degree electrocution. This time, Izumi had guidance.

"You don't need to burn the connection site between synapses. You can just reroute the signalling," Azula told Izumi as she felt her niece's activity in the victim's head.

"I hate this."

"Hate what, Zumju?"

"Hate reaching inside people's bodies. I hated when Hisoki did it to me. I hate it when you did it to me. I even hate it when Saru does it to me even though he only does it when he has to. It is so- invasive! So… unsettling…" Izumi replied.

"You'll be grateful for the skill later, trust me," Azula said gazing down at her niece with her striking golden eyes.

* * *

"So how was the trip?" Mai asked her daughter as the girl entered the parlor with her aunt.

"Cold," Izumi replied.

"I think the Princess fared exceptionally well considering what we were doing," Azula said flashing a rare, proud smile.

"And what was it that you were doing?" Mai asked.

"Just refining her dark lightning," Azula said with a smirk. "Izumi will be the most powerful Fire Lord the world has ever seen."

"But I don't want more power. I don't want more responsibility." Izumi argued.

"And that my dear is why you, of all of us, will be the best to wield it. You will want to make your own life easier and to do so, you will rule justly and well," Azula explained giving Izumi's arm an affectionate squeeze before heading off to bed after their long journey.

Izumi scowled at the ground before also retreating to her own quarters in the palace, to sleep alone like all of the too numerous nights that Masaru was away.


	29. Illegitimacy

**Thank you MusicPlayer81 for contributing the first paragraph of Yoko's essay!**

* * *

 **157AG**

Princess Izumi was already forty-three years old. She was supposedly stopped having children eight years ago, after Ursa was born. She did everything. She drank a special tea with milk of the poppy to STOP everything, and yet here they were, with her down on the birthing table, nearly dying, hopefully for the last time. Masaru couldn't be there as he was all the way in Ba Sing Se on a business trip; he too thought he was done with helping in that field. She was on her own, with no choice but to keep going. He would never forgive her if she died before him. They had an agreement, that they'd see each other through every child's adulthood, before kicking the bucket and giving in.

For once, Izumi was thankful for the horribly dim lighting of the palace as she tipped her head back with relief as the child exited her body. "Princess Izumi, it's a girl!"

She should have been happy but she wasn't. In fact, she couldn't be more devastated. She got eight years with Ursa. Eight blissful years before the Fire Sages stole her away and sent her to a boarding school that kept her for weeks at a time.

"Aren't you happy?" the healer asked with brows turned down with concern.

"Just hand her to me, and leave, speak to no one of what happened today. NO ONE! Nobody will know about this girl! Not your associates, not your trainees, not your interns, NOBODY." Izumi ordered the healer. "I need a word with my parents in privacy."

"Yes, Princess." The healer bowed obediently and backed out of the room.

"What's on your mind, Zumi?" Mai asked.

"She's so fragile, and small. No wonder we did not even notice her growing," Izumi said looking at her flat belly. "Do you think the bindings from the ceremonial robes stunted her growth?"

"We could have asked the healer to check on her if you didn't send her away," Zuko replied.

The little girl was nearly half the weight of all of her siblings at birth. She was so tiny and, considering that she born without warning, there was no way to know if she was born too painfully early.

"How could you not notice that you weren't bleeding?" Mai asked her daughter, perplexed.

"I don't know, maybe because I was constantly running from village or one city to another, in meetings from dawn until dusk of every day trying to keep the country from going to shit while father prepares for his abdication."

"He isn't going to retire for another ten years!" Mai exclaimed, shocked at her inability to feel her child growing inside her.

"Then why am I left to do everything?" Izumi shot back. She drew a breath. "I am sorry. I guess I was so grateful I didn't need to change a napkin every two hours for five days of the month that I never thought about it once to complain," Izumi replied, sarcastically rolling her eyes as she stroked the tiny little lump of life resting on her chest.

 _She's so… tiny…_

"What are we going to do with her?" Zuko asked, fraught with worry over the tiny being in Izumi's arms.

"What do you mean?" Izumi asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion at her father.

"Give her to Saru?" Zuko suggested.

"That is out of the question. She is too small. I'm keeping her with me, end of discussion."

"But Izumi, you are a princess. We can't just put you on leave suddenly without explanation-" Zuko protested.

"Call it the plague! You're the Fire Lord, Father. You can tell the generals and the foreign dignitaries whatever you like and they have to believe you. Whatever you decide, just know that I'm not showing up tomorrow. While this tiny thing can barely breathe, I am not leaving its side, and you can't make me. I WILL fight you on this right now if I need to."

"You insufferable girl," Zuko sighed.

"You insufferable father," Izumi retorted. "You allowed the Fire Sages to take one daughter from me, and I will not allow that to happen again."

* * *

Zuko went to the radio room to call for Masaru, but he could not be reached. Neither his direct line to the Earthen Fire location in the capital of the Earth Kingdom nor the direct line to his estate there were answering. "Where could the damned boy be?!" Zuko cursed.

"On his way," Mai replied placing a reassuring hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Huh?"

"I sent Eiko to fetch him a few minutes ago. The dragon is much faster than even a sky bison." Mai explained.

"How do you always manage to-never mind!" Zuko replied, shaking his head. "Let's get back to Zumzu."

The Princess was asleep in her own bed at this point, her frighteningly tiny baby asleep on her chest.

Eiko flew up to the Princess's bedroom window and practically threw the business man off its head and into the room. The thud of the business man's landing woke the Princess, and startled the newborn baby awake, filling the room with a pitiful, high-pitched wailing that made Masaru's heart stop for an instant.

"The note on Eiko's horn-" Masaru gasped, freezing in place as he spotted his lady turning to him with drooping eyes. "Zumi-" he looked in shock at her, then at the baby that the Princess was stroking with two fingers in an attempt to coax her back to sleep. "What-" Masaru choked, tears filling his eyes as he ran his fingers through his medium length wavy hair. "How did this happen? I thought- the moon tea-the milk of the poppy-" he began to stutter, tears filling his eyes.

"We have already sent agents to inspect the store. The contents of the tin had been replaced with untainted jasmine," Mai replied.

"Who would-" Masaru shook his head and rushed over to look at the tiny creature snoring on his love's chest. "Never mind- So this is-"

"She is yours," Izumi said weakly.

"A she?" he squeaked, squeezing his eyes shut, blinking away tears of joy. "And you delivered her all on your own? No panic attack, no-"

"I guess time does heal some things," Izumi replied with a slow shrug of her bare shoulders.

Masaru bent down and kissed her head, then moved his hands towards the baby before recoiling. "I don't want to wake her."

"She's slowly waking up again. I can feel it," Izumi said, stroking the baby's bare back with two fingers. Masaru looked over the infant to see her tiny fingers curling and uncurling against Izumi's skin. He saw a tiny mouth blowing spit bubbles and tiny eyes open and then close again, rejecting light.

"Why is she so small?"

Izumi shrugged. "Maybe she came early. We don't know."

"Don't know? How could you not know? Didn't you stop bleeding for…I don't know, a long time?"

"I guess I've just been too busy to keep track of such a thing," Izumi replied. "Would you like to hold her? Careful, she's rather… fragile."

"I can see that much," Masaru said slowly, moving towards the small baby.

Izumi sat up with one hand, the other making sure the infant didn't fall off her chest. She rolled the baby onto her back and placed her gently into Masaru's relatively uncalloused hands.

The businessman looked down at this tiny creature with glistening eyes full of love and … something else… worry? He bit his lower lip and furrowed his brow as he touched the tiny baby's cheek. Her minuscule arms reached for his massive finger and her mouth opened expecting to be fed or something. He moved his finger away from her mouth in wonder, triggering the girl to wail again.

"I'll take her," Izumi offered.

"What have the sages said about her?" Masaru asked as he handed the girl back to her mother, resting his elbows on his knees.

"They don't know, or they shouldn't know, not yet," Izumi replied.

"Are we keeping her?" Masaru asked.

Izumi shot him a death glare and turned slightly away from Masaru as she offered the infant her nipple.

"If you don't want her-"

"No, I do! I only meant that it will be hard all things considered. Ursa was supposed to be your last, eight years ago, and…"

"We will make do. If twenty-three years of training under azula has taught me anything, it's how to hide my true intentions. If someone does find out about this baby, and we find out about them early, I will suppress his or her memories." Izumi replied.

"Alright," Masaru said. "I trust you. Now may I please see her again?"

"Right," Izumi replied, untwisting so that she lay flat against her pillows again so Masaru could watch the feeding.

"Have you named her?"

"I thought I'd give you that honor, since… well… I did make the final call naming all of the others."

Masaru took a deep breath. "This is so sudden…" he said nervously.

"You don't have to name her now," Zuko offered. "I have heard of some parents not naming their child for the entire first year of life in case something happens to the child. They don't want to get too attached."

Masaru looked up in horror.

"Father, please leave," Izumi growled, frowning at some nondescript point at the foot of her bed.

"Was it something I said?" Zuko asked obliviously.

"Yes, obviously," Mai said, ushering him out of the room.

Masaru and Izumi waited for Izumi's parents to be gone before speaking again.

"Do you think she will live, being so tiny?" Izumi asked, looking down at the small creature suckling at her breast.

"She has to," Masaru replied.

"So what will we name her?"

"She may not be the strongest thing, or the fiercest, but she will be beautiful and smart. I know it already!"

"So what do you want to call her, oh so wise one?" Izumi asked impatiently.

"Miyoko."

"Miyoko," Izumi repeated. "I like that."

"For she is a beautiful child of a beautiful generation," Masaru explained, climbing onto the bed beside Izumi, draping an arm carefully(or gently) over her body to wrap under their new baby. He pressed a kiss to the side of her face then rested his chin atop her head. He then tucked his free arm behind her neck pulling some stray hairs out of her face. She turned and smiled at him, pressing a kiss to his lips, before returning her gaze to their new baby.

"She is mine, Saru," Izumi said with a devious smile as she looked down at their little secret.

"No, Zumi. Not yours- _ours_." Masaru corrected her with a playful nudge, and another kiss.

"Alright, ours," Izumi relented, gazing back down at the feeding child.

They remained there the rest of the day, just staring at the tiny creature as it breathed there mostly in the lap of her mother, and occasionally in the hands of her father while the Fire Lady, Mai, watched from the doorway.

* * *

 **160AG**

Izumi hid the girl just out of sight, only ever giving her to Masaru, Mai or Iliana. She taught her daughter all of the hallways and the rooms that she would ever have access to as well as any fun places her daughter might enjoy getting into. She showed the girl how to crawl into the grates and how to signal her or Masaru for help if she ever got stuck. She personally loosened the bolts on several of them so they were easier for her tiny daughter to kick through.

"Nobody can see you, okay, little one?" Izumi told her bending down to look at the child through the golden bars. "You're my little secret." the little girl stared back at her with wide amber eyes and blinked.

"Why? What will happen if they do see me?" she asked in her small little voice, touching her mother's hand through the golden grills of the vent.

"They might take you away from me, and I could not bear that, my sweet little dragon baby," Izumi replied. The little girl nodded. "I'll see you later this evening, I promise."

The little girl blinked again then turned and crawled away into the wall space of the palace wearing nothing but a napkin and a loose, brown dress that resembled more of a pillowcase with a hole for her head and arms than anything.

She followed her mother around the palace using the tunnels like a little street rat and appeared in her private offices, tea rooms, and during meals times with her grandmother Mai and sometimes her father, Masaru. Covered in ash and dust, she looked more like a homeless orphan more than she looked like the daughter of a princess. She never did eat much and remained so thin that it worried Izumi and Masaru both.

"Please finish your bowl before disappearing again," Izumi ordered the small girl as they sat with her, Masaru in a suit, and Izumi in her ceremonial robes.

"Hm," the small four-year-old girl slouched impatiently, wanting to go explore.

"You need to eat to grow up big and strong so that when you do enter the world, nobody can hurt you, so you can fight back bravely and not need anybody to shield you," Izumi told the girl.

"I know," she sighed, taking another small bite.

Izumi sighed and wiped a line of ash and dust off of the girl's forehead with her thumb. She bathed every night, yet always was filthy by dinner because of the vents that she had to live in to stay hidden.

"There has to be another way," Masaru said that evening after their daughter was asleep in their bed, looking like an angel from the spirit world with her perfectly heart shaped face and long black hair in a neat, loose braid. "It hurts to see her like that, living in the shadows, completely unknown."

"Saru, your youngest sons are already seventeen years old and in the army. How will you explain that you suddenly have a four year old?" Izumi asked.

"What about you?"

"I can murder anyone who tries to hurt her, and my father will back me."

"If they don't murder her first for existing."

"Don't speak that way," Izumi whispered harshly, turning to look back at their sleeping babe.

"I worry that she is not getting the attention she needs since all of you are expected to do so much internationally," Masaru sighed.

"My mother is helping, and Iliana. Don't worry my love, we'll figure something out"

* * *

 **161AG**

Then one day, she started firebending.

"Where is Yoko?" Izumi asked Masaru at dinner. He shrugged.

They both checked the approved vent entrances and called for her to get no response.

Izumi tore off the grills and got down on her stomach. "Zumi, you don't fit in there, we'll find another way!"

"Like what?!" Izumi growled. "What if she was seen? What if she was taken!"

"She's not, I got her," Mai said, appearing with the four year old on her hip. The girl was hiding her face in the crook of her grandmother's neck.

"Yoko! What happened?" Izumi asked, taking the child from her mother and checking the girl's body and wiping fresh tears from her face, the tears making rivers on her daughter's dirt-covered face. Izumi tucked the child's head under her chin and held her tightly, fear still gripping her entire being as she quickly scanned the hallways for any non-family.

"Show them, Yoko. It will be okay. They don't feel the same pain as me, nor can they get burned," Mai said to the small child, tucking some of the girl's scraggly black hair behind her ear.

The girl sat up in her mother's arms, held out a tiny hand, and bent for her parents a little red flame.

Izumi looked up at Masaru. Neither were shocked, just… worried. Miyoko would need training so she wouldn't hurt herself in the vents, or accidentally asphyxiate herself in a small space with a flame.

Izumi heard the girl whimper and hide her face again in her mother's neck, afraid and ashamed. She'd never before seen anyone firebending or doing anything of the sort. She had only ever seen the portraits of the Fire Lord's with Fire in their hands and at their feet. She didn't realize someone as small as her could be capable of doing something so… frightening.

"Shhhh… don't be afraid of it, my love. It is just a little flame. It is like a tiny heartbeat. Fire is energy; it is life. It may be dangerous, but that is just nature. Respect its power, and you will be safe," she said cradling the scared four-year-old child in her arms and swaying in place until she stopped crying.

"I don't like it. It makes me feel… different." Miyoko replied in such such a small, quivering voice that brought a tear to Izumi's eyes.

"You'll get used to it, Sweet Love," Masaru said putting his arm around his two girls, rubbing Miyoko's back and leaning his chin on Izumi's head while Mai stood guard.

"We did," Izumi said, lifting Yoko's tiny chin with her index finger to make her look. Izumi held out her hand and made a matching red flame like Miyoko's then turned it yellow and orange and then green, purple, white and finally blue before closing her fingers and making the flame go away.

"I can do it too," Masaru said making a red and orange flame. "I am just not as talented as your dear mother and have much less of a temperature range," he explained making his red flame dance between both hands before bending it away.

Miyoko eyed them both warily, still suspicious then leaned back on her mother's chest and turned away, frowning, deep in thought.

The next day, Izumi rearranged her schedule, got her child some clothes more suitable for firebending and began training her baby in an open courtyard deep in Azula's quarter, far away from anybody who could possibly stumbling upon them and see.

* * *

 **163AG**

Izumi was called before her father in the throne room. Such a thing only happened when the Fire Lord was particularly displeased with her. "Izumi, my daughter," he said gazing down upon her from behind the flames, not giving her permission to rise and face him. "Your ever-increasing absence has been noted."

"Yet my tasks are still completed on-time, so what is the matter?" Izumi questioned.

"Leave us," Zuko ordered his guards. They filed out.

"The nation needs you, Izumi."

"But so does Yoko! You know this!" Izumi argued looking up.

"Yoko needs a teacher, yes, but that doesn't have to be you!"

"I will not have some warlord come into my home and abuse my daughter!" Izumi yelled, her hair turning blue in anger.

"It doesn't have to be a warlord. It can be someone kinder. Azula, perhaps?"

"Yoko is frightened of her." Azula may be in her 60s, but she was still just as formidable as she was in her prime. Izumi had been scared of her in her teens; she couldn't imagine how terrified her small daughter was.

"Masaru, maybe?"

"He's too busy with Earthen Fire Refineries."

"A member of your Amber League?" Zuko suggested.

Izumi fell silent. T _hat…could work._ They swore their lives to serving the Nation by preserving Izumi's sanity so that when she ascends the throne, she won't burn her nation down after her first encounter with opposition.

"We can hide her and her teacher just like when Azula trained you in secrecy," Zuko suggested.

"Very well," Izumi said. "I'll speak to Masaru about selecting somebody."

* * *

Masaru surveyed all of the trainers in the camps for the Amber League and made his selection, then presented the firebending master to Izumi and Zuko. Wanting only the best for Miyoko, they decided to test the man by having Izumi fight him in Agni Kai. It ended with him on the ground begging mercy from the Princess.

"Singe a single hair on her body and I will personally see you roasted alive," Izumi threatened the firebending master. The next morning, she introduced the master to his new pupil, her scrawny little six-year-old.

"Miyoko, meet Master Nikoru," Izumi said to the young girl.

The master examined the young pupil. "Are you SURE she is even a firebender? She looks so— fragile—and— small." Nikoru commented.

"She looks fragile and small, but she is getting stronger. Yoko, pretend Master Nikoru is your greatest enemy and show him what you can do." Izumi ordered.

"But I thought you said to talk to your enemies first before first fighting and to try to make peace," Miyoko recited with a little furrowed brow and a small frown. Masaru and Nikoru both covered their laughter. Izumi felt both great pride and great embarrassment in that moment. She wanted to laugh, but needed her daughter to take her training seriously, so she took a deep breath and modified her request.

"In which case, pretend Master Nikoru is me telling you to stop reading and go to bed early."

Yoko nodded. She sprinted towards the man, jumped up turning twice in the air generating a ring of red fire then as she kicked it his way, turned the flame a hot blue throwing him into the opposite wall.

"Well done, Love," Izumi nodded with approval.

"Huh, well done, Princess. And you've taught her yourself thus far?" Nikoru asked Izumi.

"Yes," Izumi replied with a stiff nod.

"I'm impressed. It's a wonder why the Fire Sages ever doubt you."

With training taking up most of Miyoko's days, started seeing less and less of her mother. She saw her father, her grandmother, even her _grandfather_ more than her mother. She had less time to go in the vents and eavesdrop in on meetings and learn about proceedings with the Fire Nation and the outside world. She had less time to see her mother living.

* * *

 **165AG**

One day, Miyoko asked Nikoru for the day off. Citing a sprained ankle, she decided to go see her mother. She climbed out from under the princess's desk and waited for her to return from the war room.

"Mother, why can't you teach me?" Miyoko asked, revealing herself.

Izumi shrieked and four guards broke in, Miyoko diving under before being seen.

"Princess, is everything alright?" they asked.

"Yes, just- a spider fly fell from the ceiling. You may leave," Izumi replied, clutching her chest. As the door closed, she addressed her daughter. "Yoko! You startled me!"

"I thought you said firebenders were never afraid," eight-year-old Miyoko responded, crawling out from her hiding place.

"I know, but in the office, it's different. I don't usually have visitors coming out from _under_ me," Izumi replied, taking off her crown and running her fingers through her hair.

"I'm sorry!" the girl replied on the verge of tears, leaning away from her mother, and ducking back into the shadows under the desk, pressing her body against the dark cherry wood, tucking her knees into her chest. "I just missed you. It's been eight days since I've last seen you—" She whimpered looking down at the open vent and the hole in the ground. "But if I'm interrupting, I'll go," she said about to slip away into the vents again. "I don't want to be the cause of more stress or pain."

"No, Yoko, don't go! Come here! I have a few minutes before the next meeting." Izumi said, reaching for her, pulling the girl into her lap tucking her head under her chin, and holding her tight. "I've missed you too, Love. Sooooo much," she added, planting a kiss on the eight-year-old's head.

"Where have you been?" Miyoko asked, looking her mother directly in the eye to make sure she was still in there.

"Working," Izumi replied with a heavy sigh looking at the papers on her desk. "Diplomatic ventures, representing my father in the United Republic and Earth Kingdom. He goes to the Water Tribes. He's a fool sometimes if I don't say so myself. My inner fire is stronger than his. If he were attacked in the tundra, he wouldn't last. I am trying to get him to switch regions, but he doesn't listen. Stubborn old man, he is" Izumi replied with a sigh of frustration.

"Can I help in any way, to lighten your load maybe?" Miyoko asked.

"What do you mean?" Izumi asked looking at her daughter strangely.

"I mean, if you're a princess and I'm your daughter, doesn't that make me a princess too? Maybe I could take over the United Republic and go on trips like you!" Miyoko offered. "If we went during the same month, instead of you going for two months, we could spend the extra month together on Ember Island or something! The place from Grandma's stories?"

Izumi smiled sadly. "I appreciate the sentiment, I do, but it cannot happen for along while, okay?"

"Why?" Miyoko asked, internally crushed, but trying to hide her emotions like her mother always did.

"Because... even though I love your father very much, he is not my husband. It is because of that that you cannot be a royal... not until I become Fire Lord and change things," Izumi explained.

"Oh," Miyoko said sadly.

"Don't be sad, Yoko," Izumi said tucking a lock of hair behind the girl's ear. "Besides. You really don't want to be a princess. It is truly bitter work. I despise it most times." Izumi confessed.

"But... you shouldn't have to suffer it alone," Yoko said quietly, hanging her head in dismay.

"But enough about that! What did you want to talk about, my sweet?"

"I didn't want to talk," the girl responded. "I just wanted you to see me. I know the world can't know I exist, but sometimes it feels like you forget too that I'm here, still living," Miyoko whispered leaning on her armor, but snaking her hand into her mother's robes to feel the warmth of her breast.

"That's not true. I could never forget you," Izumi said, crestfallen that her daughter would believe that could happen.

Just then there was a knocking on the door.

"Go!" Izumi ordered. Yoko bolted under the desk and Izumi replaced her crown in her bun.

"Enter!" Izumi called.

"Princess Izumi—" a voice addressed her opening the door.

"Sage Miu?" Izumi gasped.

Yoko didn't like the fear in her mother's voice.

"We've heard rumors of another bastard."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Izumi growled.

"And that she's living in the palace." Miu replied.

Izumi threw her pen down, raging with fury. "Fine! So what if she lives in the palace? So do several dozen other children of servants."

"She is not the child of a servant—"

"Really? Am I not a servant to you? To the country?" Izumi raged.

"You are a Princess of the Fire Nation," the Fire Sage Miu reminded her.

"Then treat me as such and stop telling me what to do!" Izumi barked.

"If the nation finds out about this girl born AFTER Ursa, we will eliminate her."

"If you get anywhere near her, I will personally destroy you, Miu. And if I am not with her, I will instruct her to. I won't let you rob me of another piece of my soul!" Izumi threatened.

"She not an issue you can continue to ignore."

"She is not an issue! You are!" Izumi responded. "Now get out of my office and never show your face here again, unless you want to get burned!"

Miyoko clasped her hand over her mouth. _Eliminate? Was being illegitimate such a bad thing_?

Izumi waited for the door to slam shut and the footsteps to recede before crouching down under the desk to find her baby shaking with fear.

"Yoko-" Izumi began to say before the child dove into the vents and crawled away.

* * *

 **167AG**

Izumi went to Masaru's house to fetch her ten-year-old baby. Masaru looked angry with her.

"Where's Yoko?" Izumi asked.

"You missed it?"

"Missed what?"

"You missed our trip," Masaru said. "We were going to go as a family and you missed it."

"There was an emergency session! I couldn't just leave."

"It was Yoko's turn to meet the DRAGONS!"

The sun warriors. The ritual. The dance. The eternal flame… Izumi ran up the stairs of Masaru's estate faster than her legs could carry her to find her daughter laying flat on her stomach with her face buried in the sheets.

"Yoko! I'm sorry-"

"You're not!" She yelled, lashing out with a green flame. "You say you are but you're not! If you were, things would change but they don't! So just go away! I don't need you anymore! Just go— serve your country like the legitimate Princess that you are and leave me to my vents!"

"Yoko!" Izumi rushed forward, reaching out a hand.

"Don't touch me!" Yoko lashed out again but with a blue flame. She sat with her back to her mother and her knees curled against her chest, sobbing. Her arms and legs were still so skinny. Izumi took a step back to give her room to breathe, swallowing her tears to focus on her daughter.

"How was the ceremony at least?"

"Horrible. I was so scared. I thought I was going to die. I got distracted by my own fears and let the flame go out halfway up the stairs to their lair. I thought they were going to roast me alive, and that I wouldn't even get to say goodbye to you because you weren't even there," Miyoko sniffled.

"Yoko—" Izumi's Heart broke. How could she even respond? Her daughter would _never_ forgive her for missing such a milestone. Izumi tried to reach out again.

"I said DON'T TOUCH ME!" Miyoko leapt out of bed and across the room in one jump into a corner with her knees pulled tight and her hands out in front of her as if to ward off some monstrous predator instead of her own mother. Izumi couldn't believe what she was seeing.

She wanted to just envelop the child in her arms and tell her everything was going to be okay, but she couldn't. The girl wouldn't believe her anymore since her actions told the girl everything. She was broken and afraid, everything Izumi never wanted her to be. Instead of forcing the girl to accept an the embrace she was fighting, Izumi relented and walked away.

"She'll come around," Masaru told her as she left Yoko's room. Izumi didn't hear him, for she was already crying as she ran to their bedroom.

* * *

Miyoko went in secrecy, back to the castle. It was her first time traveling between her Father's and Mother's home unaccompanied. She knew the guard patterns, which allowed her to slip into the palace walls unnoticed and make her way to her grandmother's apartments. Once there, she waited patiently for the Fire Lady to return from whatever function she was attending.

"Grandma Mai, could you teach me how to be a princess?" Miyoko asked, coming out of her hiding place behind a lounger in the parlor.

"Why?" Mai asked the girl.

"I just thought it might be helpful someday, and maybe... if I acted more like Mother, she'll want to spend more time with me," Miyoko replied, unmasking her sadness.

Mai's heart broke for the child. "Oh Yoko! Your mother already wants to spend time with you. She just can't. She loves you and would never leave your side if she could. You don't need to act like a princess. She's just really busy meeting the demands of the Nation."

"Can I please learn anyways? Maybe then at least I'll have something to take my mind off of things. Firebending gets boring," Miyoko asked.

"Okay, I'll teach you. But it won't be easy, sweetheart. Learning to be a princess is not at all how they write it in the fairy tales, ESPECIALLY learning to be a princess of the our great Nation," Mai informed the girl.

"I understand," Miyoko replied.

The very next day, they begun her lessons without tutors. Just Mai teaching her granddaughter everything. "You may not speak unless spoken to, you may not ever finish your plate of food..."

"But what if there's barely any food on the plate to begin with and I'm hungry?" Miyoko questioned.

"Then you starve," Mai deadpanned.

"But why?" Miyoko asked.

"It's customary to show you're not a peasant-"

"But I thought we were supposed to sympathize with the peasants-"

"That's where the starving comes in."

"What is done with the leftovers? If it doesn't at least go to those in need, I'm going to scream." Miyoko responded seriously, looking at her grandmother with a raised brow.

Completely unfazed, Mai stared back. "Yoko, princesses don't question authority."

"Mother does all the time. I hear her fighting the Fire Sages every time they come by her office to try to get just a minute of her time—" Miyoko muttered.

"Yoko, do you want to learn how to be a _proper_ princess or not?" Mai asked.

Miyoko sighed. "Yes." _Mother is right. It is bitter work._

The etiquette wasn't so bad, and neither was the heightened expectations for her firebending. But having to keep ones mouth shut was driving Yoko to near insanity. Miyoko got to learn how to dress nicely in new clothes that Grandma Mai had made for her and some days, they both went undercover and ventured into the capital for Miyoko to practice her manners in different venues and restaurants in the Fire Nation Capital. Mai showed the ten-year-old the streets, museums, art galleries, operas, and plays... It was overwhelming. There was _so_ much more to the world than she had ever imagined.

* * *

A few days later, Masaru asked Izumi if she'd seen the girl. No.

"She left for the palace shortly after you returned. I thought she went to find you," Masaru said confusedly.

"Well she didn't."

"She's been with me," Mai told Izumi later that evening. "She wanted to learn to be a proper princess for when you DO legitimize her. She wants to help lighten your load."

"Really? Why?"

"She misses you, Izumi."

"She can come visit."

"A few minutes between meetings is not enough." Mai replied sternly.

Izumi became the spy, sneaking around and watching her daughter's lessons from balconies. She acted so differently now. The mischievous spark in her eyes was gone. Her optimism and energy completely decimated. She looked like a ghost. Her hair was always clean and tied neatly, her chin held high, her shoulders down and back, and her torso rigid as a board. She walked with the pride of a war hero, or a survivor.

"Yoko," Izumi said, entering her room to find her child practicing calligraphy.

"Mother," she replied. Not turning around.

"I wanted to apologize for... for everything— for missing so much of your life."

"Don't feel sorry, Mother. I understand that your duty as a princess is to serve your country however the Fire Lord sees fit."

"Thank you for understanding," Izumi said.

Miyoko looked out her window. "I also know my duty as the bastard of a princess is to stay out of your life so you can do your job accordingly."

Izumi's eyes widened. How did her daughter hate herself? Why had she become complicit in her own daughter's self-torture? "No, please tell me you don't truly believe that. PLEASE!"

"You said so yourself. Nobody can know about me or they'll take me away. I'm just a hindrance to you being a good princess and they want to protect the royal family."

Izumi fell to her knees. "Yoko, I'm begging you—"

Miyoko pivoted in her chair and looked down at her mother.

"Please, Princess Izumi. Save your energy for what's important. The Earth King will be here soon and I don't think The Fire Lord would appreciate him seeing you weeping."

"You are my daughter, Miyoko. You are and always will be, and I am so sorry for hurting you! I am so sorry for not realizing. If there is anything I can do to make up for it all, please! Tell me. I will walk away from it all if I could! I can at least take some time off, we can go somewhere—"

"You can make it up to me by doing your duty to our nation and our family and stop crying. I'm okay. I know my place. It's time you've understood yours," Miyoko replied, looking down at her mother with annoyance as opposed to the apathy that she conveyed before. Izumi curled her fingers into the ground, her hair streaked blue with grief.

* * *

"What can I do to change her perception of me?" Izumi asked Masaru as she turned down her end of their bed at his estate.

"By changing? Becoming more involved in her life?"

"How?" Izumi asked.

"Just by being here. If you want. Maybe you can come to the meeting I have with her teacher in a few days. Then you can hear how she is doing in school," Masaru suggested.

"I'd like that, since she won't say one word to me that isn't 'get back to work'." Izumi's said climbing into bed at Masaru's Estate.

"Did you ever find out why the moon tea didn't work?" Masaru asked climbing in after her, pulling her over.

"Someone has replaced it with a placebo."

"Who? I don't know."

* * *

The next day, Izumi gathered all of her hair in a bun at the base of her neck and secured it with a crimson ribbon. She dressed a little nicer than what she usually wore at Masaru's Estate but not something too nice that would indicate royalty. She settled for some casual dark red robes with a black over coat and no gold.

"You look... different," Masaru commented.

"Good. I don't want to be recognized," Izumi replied tying the coat at her waist.

"So what's your story going to be?"

"My story?"

"Yoko doesn't have a mother listed on her school papers."

"I can be your girlfriend or your concubine. I don't mind either," Izumi responded bluntly.

Masaru sighed. "Fine, you are my girlfriend. And if they ask why Yoko never mentions you?"

"The girl despises me, obviously. Unfortunately for her, my love for you is greater than my fear of her, the little baby dragon," Izumi replied, applying a light pink gloss over her lips before turning to face him.

"Ready?" he asked, extending a hand.

"Ready," Izumi replied accepting his.

They drove to the school. It was so strange for Izumi to hear the voices of so many children since she never did have the opportunity to go to any of her sons' schools as they grew up.

"Our appointment is twenty minutes after the bell," Masaru said parking their Satomobile. He got out first and opened the door for her and held out his hand. Izumi noticed immediately that Masaru was well known on the campus as children and parents alike began pointing and staring.

"Was this a bad idea?" Izumi asked, beginning to second guess everything.

"Don't worry," Masaru replied. "This school is far enough from the palace that none of the other lords who would recognize you would dare to send their children here." He rested his hand on the small of her back, guiding her to their daughter's primary classroom where they would wait the remaining ten minutes before the meeting.

"If school only just got out ten minutes ago, where's Yoko?"

"Probably off with one of the clubs she's joined."

"Clubs?"

"She's on a recreational kuai ball team that practices five days a week, and she's joined a pai sho club and calligraphy. That each meet about twice a week.

"Spirits, how does she have time for that?"

"She's like you in that sense,"

"What do you mean?"

"She smart, quick and has the energy to run non-stop from dawn till dusk if necessary." Masaru said with his arm around his lady as they sat on the bench outside the classroom waiting.

"I'll see you next week Kami!" Yoko's voice called as she appeared out of an adjacent building waving to another pupil.

"See you next week, Miyoko!" The other pupil replied.

Miyoko ran over with her eyes fixed on her father. Then she noticed the woman beside him and blanched.

"Long time no see," Izumi said plainly to her daughter just as the door to Yoko's classroom opened as a mother and a son exited.

"Thank you for coming!" the teacher said. "Mr. Lee and..."

"Feng, Ziyuan Feng," Izumi replied.

"Ms. Feng. Nice to meet you. I'm Mrs. Dao, Miyoko's teacher. And what is your relationship to Mr. Lee?"

"I'm his—"

"—girlfriend," Masaru answered for her quickly in case she had forgotten.

"Oh! And how long have you known each other?" Mrs. Dao asked, eying Izumi warily as she waved the three into the room.

"Our whole lives, but circumstances separated us for a while. Only recently I got a post at his company and we reunited and... here we are now," Izumi shrugged.

"Congratulations. I only ask because Miyoko has never mentioned a _prospective_ mother."

"We just… haven't seen eye-to-eye in a long while," Izumi replied, not looking at Yoko as they sat down across from the teacher's desk.

"So here are copies of her progress report for each of you. Miyoko is currently enrolled in the standard six core subjects that this school offers which are: Language Mechanics, Composition and Literature, Mathematics, History, Alchemy, World Cultures and Philosophies as well as two electives: Orchestra and Theatre.

"She is an incredibly unique pupil who has managed to negotiate terms of enrollment with both the orchestra conductor and the theatre director enabling herself to participate in only half the rehearsals and yet still perform at the same or even higher caliber of the other performers. Despite her huge time allotment to the arts, her marks in Mathematics, Alchemy and Language mechanics have remained high, never once dipping below perfection. That being said, we, as teachers are still very concerned with her marks in Composition and Literature, and World Cultures and Philosophy, which are less than satisfactory..." Mrs. Dao said, turning the page of her copy of the progress report.

"Just because the prompts asked for one's HONEST opinion and mine differs from yours doesn't mean that—" Miyoko began to protest.

"Quiet, Yoko," Izumi commanded, silencing the girl instantly.

"If Miyoko holds less than conventional opinions on worldly matters, yet still completes the assignment per prompt within the constraints of the rubric in the more subjective classes, why is it she is still marked down?" Masaru asked flipping through the more detailed break down on his daughter's performance in more specific areas, seeing nothing less than "O" for outstanding. His daughter's structure and format was all marked highly, completeness of thoughts, collection of evidence all good. Only the final mark was a fail.

"Here is a sample of her writing. While eloquent, the school cannot condone or promote blatant disloyalty to the crown." The teacher said.

* * *

 **Prompt: write 300 lines on whether or not you agree with one of the following and why.**

 **1\. Fire Nation involvement in policing the black-market trade city in the heart of the Si Wong Desert.**

 **2\. The debates between the Fire Lord Zuko and Grand General Hao regarding the sale of obsolete military artillery to**  
 **foreign parties.**

 **3\. The conscious decision of the Fire Princess Izumi to not involve either of her children in the regular duties of the Royal**  
 **Family.**

 _In Republic City the orphan situation is so dire that all four nations are working together for the first time since before the Air Nomad genocide to help alleviate the strain on the United Republic of Nations while in the Si Wong Desert, there is an entire city dedicated to illicit dealings in the realms of drugs and human trafficking. What do these two disparate issues have in common? They both could benefit from the services of Prince Iroh II and Princess Ursa of the Fire Nation. However, Crown Princess Izumi has chosen to not involve her children, claiming that they need more time to become acquainted with the world's workings before becoming more involved in national and international policy decisions. This claim is wholly invalid especially for the Prince Iroh, whom by the ripe age of 33 is already a man well traveled with vast experience in military and leadership as well as international negotiations. While a majority of the Fire Nation takes this explanation at face value, there is more to the Crown Princess's explanation than meets the eye. Rather, Prince Iroh has not been involved in decision making due to his high-level engagement with the United Republic Forces; thus, as a military leader of a foreign power he cannot be trusted to work favorably on behalf of the Fire Nation. Princess Ursa, on the other hand, has shown her devotion to the Fire Nation through her bending studies, yet she as well has shirked her royal duties with her mother's consent; instead, an ambassador has taken on the majority of her duties. This begs the question: would the Fire Nation be better served by a republic framework modeled after the United Republic of Nations?_

* * *

"We are going to have a long conversation about this later." Masaru said folding the essay sample in half before tucking it into his breast pocket.

"Long conversation, huh? Was it not you who told me that brevity is the soul of wit?" Miyoko asked.

Masaru sighed and Izumi rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to strike her insolent child.

"Does the school have a firebending master that offers lessons to the pupils?" Izumi asked, changing the subject away from her daughter's less-than conventional writings.

"Yes. The school has a physical education class that segregates benders from non-benders. Miyoko was placed in the highest level class of firebending with Master Duy-Lam but decided her time there would be wasted. She then challenged her instructor to an Agni Kai with the agreement that if she won, she would receive credit for the class and enroll in a second elective."

Izumi frowned disapprovingly. "So you think you're a master?" she asked Miyoko.

"Yes, no thanks to you," Miyoko muttered slouching a little in the seat between her parents.

Izumi rolled her eyes. _Maybe I should test you._

"Is there anything else we should know about Yoko's schooling? Is she getting along with the other children?" Masaru asked.

"Some of them." the teacher replied a little less confidently.

"Only some?" Izumi asked, her eyes narrowing, getting the sense there was more to what the teacher was telling.

"Miyoko, will you please step out of the room," the teacher asked.

She stood and exited silently.

"We know she's bullied. She never complains about it for some strange reason but myself and some of the other instructors have heard her being called the Highborn Bastard of Earthen Fire Refineries."

"And have you confronted the children saying this?" Izumi asked sternly.

"Yes. They seem to think that because she doesn't react that it's okay to say what they say-"

"Have they suffered any consequences for their cruelty?" Izumi asked darkly, standing up.

"N-no, Ms. Feng."

"Ziyuan, cool it-" Masaru ordered reaching out a hand to give her a small dose of dark lightning upon contact to slow her heart and calm her down. Izumi glared at him before sitting back down angrily. "Thank you, Mrs. Dao for informing us on my daughter's performance in school and her disposition among her peers. We will definitely be speaking with her about her rather… unconventional beliefs regarding our royal family's decision to exclude it's youngest members from political activity. We completely agree that disloyalty should not be rewarded and will express that to her this evening. Will that be all for the meeting?"

"Yes, I believe so," Mrs. Dao said checking her papers.

"Very well, then thank you for your time," Masaru said hurriedly, not letting go of Izumi as the three of them stood up. They bowed to each other then all made their way to the door.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Lee," Mrs. Dao said opening the door for them.

As soon as the door closed, Masaru spoke. "What time will you be home, Yoko?"

"Seven, like always," Miyoko replied instantly.

"Good. Don't be late. We have a lot to discuss," Masaru replied turning away as Miyoko also started in the other direction.

"Wait! You don't pick her up from school?" Izumi asked.

"She can find her way home on her own," Masaru replied.

"Is that safe?" Izumi asked.

Masaru leaned into her ear. "She learned from the dragons, she is safe," he replied.

Izumi took a deep breath and looked back at Yoko who waited for absolute clearance before sprinting off to resume her extracurricular activities.

"She's still just a girl,"

"But she is YOUR girl, and you, too hate being perceived as weak, Princess. So don't do it to her." he reminded her in a whisper. "Yoko, you may go," Masaru confirmed and the girl took off sprinting.

* * *

That evening, Miyoko came home to the estate to find both parents waiting at the dinner table for her.

"You're still here," she said glaring at Izumi.

"And you're still surly," Izumi replied pointedly.

"Enough, BOTH of you," Masaru snapped taking the essay sample out of his coat pocket and setting it on the table before Miyoko. "Explain yourself."

"I did, very well according to Mrs. Deng, the history teacher," Miyoko replied.

"Yoko," Izumi began sternly. "You cannot be having these- thoughts!"

"And why not? Grandfather said that all are now allowed freedom of speech under his regime. Why CAN'T I express my opinions openly?"

"Because you are a daughter of a member of the royal family-" Izumi began to say.

"But _I_ am _NOT_ a member of the royal family, so what does it matter?!" Miyoko asked, heading straight past the dining room to the hall that lead to the stairs to the resident quarters of the massive estate.

"Yoko!" Izumi yelled, chasing after her.

"Zumi-"

"You listen to me right now!" Izumi yelled, grabbing the child by the wrist and pulling her close, bending down to be eye-level with the child.

"You ARE MY DAUGHTER whether you like it or not and though you may THINK that you don't need me, I need you too, okay?" Izumi said, holding onto her. Miyoko freed her hands with a quick yank.

"Need me for what? To distract you from doing what you're supposed to do? I KNOW I was a mistake! I KNOW I was an accident. I KNOW I am not wanted by anybody except MAYBE Father, and CERTAINLY not you! So just leave me alone and let me pave my own way! Isn't that what you want for all your children? For them to be what they want to be without the Fire Sages dictating their every day and their every developmental stage? Just- go back to the palace, Princess and leave me be!" Miyoko yelled.

"Yoko, you still have to eat dinner!" Masaru tried.

"NOT HUNGRY!" Miyoko replied, slamming her door.

* * *

"What do I do?" Izumi asked Masaru in tears that evening.

"Just… stay. Persistence is key."

"I thought that by keeping her near me, I would be protecting her from the world, but she just… hates me!"

"She doesn't hate you. She just wants to feel loved as does anybody. She just needs time. Time alone and time with you, believe me!" Masaru said.

* * *

Izumi made Miyoko's lunch and added a bag of roasted fire flakes. She added a raspberry tart to the girl's after-school snack bag, and a bottle of ramune in the pocket opposite her water in her satchel. She followed Masaru to work and learned a little about the factory proceedings then waited at home for her daughter to return.

"Do you ever get bored in the evenings, when you're not working?" Izumi asked playing Pai Sho with Masaru for the first time since they were in their teens.

"Not at all. Usually I read the paper when I get home, check up on the Amber League's activities, ask Lu and Yen about the guards, their personal lives, their wives and children... Sometimes I go for a walk along the docks or accompany the chef to the marketplace…"

"How doesn't that get boring?"

"I always have company," Masaru replied, playing his white lotus piece. "Don't you get bored reading and signing the same papers all day all alone in your office?"

"Sometimes there are meetings. Some with Father present, and some without," Izumi replied, moving an airbender piece. "Some generals aren't too annoying, same with the ministers."

"How come I haven't heard of them?" Masaru asked capturing her airbender piece with a firebender.

Izumi shrugged as she played a water tribe piece to take his firebender. "They're more or less always the same. Never interesting, just not annoying," Izumi replied.

"And what are their names?" Masaru asked, inching his white lotus tile closer to the center of the board.

"Mister Jung, the Minister of Infrastructure in the Fire Nation, General Xong Fu of the Reiben Island, and Minister Cao of Telecommunications. He actually agrees with me that we should invest in extend wiring to all homes and not restrict access to the telegram network to the wealthy," Izumi replied moving an earthbender into position to attack Masaru's white lotus tile.

"Hm… I'll have to thank them all for making your days at the palace bearable," Masary said, moving his avatar piece. "I win!" Masaru said showing Izumi the board. His avatar perfectly in position to capture her 'trapped' white lotus tile.

Just then the door opened and Yoko returned home.

She took one glance at Izumi and started for her room.

"Yoko, if you run away one more time, I'm taking away your lute and burning it," Masaru threatened.

Miyoko froze. "You wouldn't."

"Try me," Masaru replied.

She sighed and joined them in the parlor.

"Take my place and beat your mother for me, will you? I have to go check on how dinner is coming. Don't worry. She's not that good honestly, and such a disgrace to Great Uncle Iroh who taught us both how to play," Masaru told the girl.

"Thanks, Saru!" Izumi called after Masaru, frowning.

Miyoko snickered as she helped to reset the tiles.

"Do you really suck that badly at pai sho? Father's not usually so demeaning," Miyoko asked.

"With me he is, because he knows he can get away with it." Izumi replied, pressing her hands together above the table, then opening them to show they were empty as her daughter mirrored her.

"Do you love him?"

"Yes?"

"More than anything?"

"No."

"What do you love most?"

"My babies."

"Am I really one of them? One of yours?" Miyoko asked.

Izumi cocked her head to the side and frowned. "Why would you even ask such a thing?"

"Because you spend a majority of your time working for the nation and not… being a mother." Miyoko replied.

"And yet here I am now, risking exposure, risking my family name trying to make up for lost time. Why would I do that if I weren't certain that you, Yoko, are my own flesh and blood, my baby? Why would I keep you near me in the palace when you were young? Why would I personally oversee your firebending training and be so adamant about you being able to protect yourself as you grow up?"

Miyoko shrugged.

"I already lost one daughter to the Fire Sages." Izumi confessed to Miyoko.

"Princess Ursa?" Miyoko asked.

Izumi nodded. "She was just a little girl when they sent her away to a boarding school. You attend a day school. You get to come home and see your family. She only gets to return on the holidays: the solstices and season's festivals. She changed that first year. They tried to brainwash her into an imperialistic little shit. Fortunately she was stronger than they had hoped."

"Where is she now?" Miyoko asked.

"Traveling. Dropped out of school, thank the spirits!"

"Alone?"

"She wanted to go alone. She wanted to prove herself capable and independent as she traveled to study the ways of the benders of other elements."

"So you let her travel the world alone, but don't trust me to walk home from school on my own?" Miyoko asked.

"Ursa is eighteen. You're only ten, AND you're tiny, for your age" Izumi replied bluntly.

"That is true," Miyoko sighed, moving another piece.

"What were you like when you were my age, Mother? Did you go to school like Ursa?"

Izumi laughed as a flood of memories rushed forth in her head. "I had tutors at the Palace. They kept me away from other children, since there was still so much resistance to change. I was born only five years after the end of the great war, so many of my would have been classmates were very anti-Zuko and anti-international cooperation. My parents worried I'd get bullied or even assassinated if I went to school."

"Did you have anybody your own age?"

"Your father," Izumi said with a smile.

"What did you do in a day?"

"Lessons typically nine hours a day. Sometimes from early morning until late afternoon, sometimes midday until night. Sometimes they split it up with a brief gap of free time in the middle," Izumi replied. "I learned how to adapt to an ever-changing daily schedule."

"What did you do on your free time?"

"Play pranks on the palace staff with your father."

"Pranks? A Princess?"

"Would you believe it? One of my favorites was after Masaru learned how to brew wildfyre in alchemy. It is a type of liquid that once lit doesn't extinguish for DAYS no matter what you pour on it or what bender tries to extinguish it."

"That sounds dangerous," Miyoko said suspiciously.

"It is dangerous, but it was still fun to light up the bathrooms and watch all of the fancy lords and ladies have to just piss on the flames or risk wetting themselves and their fancy robes," Izumi replied.

"OH! Mother! That is absolutely disgusting!"

"What is?" Masaru asked, returning as Izumi snickered at her daughter's discomfort.

"You did NOT light the bathrooms up with wildfyre and watch the nobles of the court piss on the flames."

Masaru went red in the face and turned accusingly to Izumi. "IZUMI!"

"Oh my god! My parents are idiots!" Miyoko exclaimed.

"Aren't all parents idiots to their own children?" Izumi asked with a smile.

"I suppose," Miyoko sighed.

"Excuse me, Mister Lee, Princess Izumi," a messenger asked, arriving. "It is your Father, Princess. He requests your audience immediately."

Izumi groaned and looked down at her daughter with longing.

"It's the effort that counts," Miyoko shrugged. "Your nation needs you, Princess Izumi. Just… don't EVER forget that we need you too."

"I won't, my love," Izumi replied, kissing the top of her daughter's head before following the messenger back to the palace.


	30. The Coronation

**167AG**

Izumi entered the hall and stopped exactly twenty feet short of the throne and got down on one knee and bowed her head. "You called for me, Father?"

"Everyone else except the Princess, leave," Zuko ordered.

"Yes, my lord." The guards all marched out leaving Izumi and Zuko alone.

"Izumi, rise," Zuko ordered, his tone unreadable.

Izumi stood and looked up at the wall of red flames that shielded her father from view.

"I need to ask a favor of you, Izumi," Zuko said standing on his throne, only his silhouette visible.

"Anything," Izumi replied dutifully.

"You have been shadowing me for twenty seven years..."

"Yes?"

"You know the Fire Nation inside out..."

"I don't, but I like to think that I do."

"You've traveled to the farthest reaches of the Northern Tundra and the South Pole..."

"Yes."

"You've met and learned the ways of the people of the Earth Kingdom cities, villages, swamps, and desert..."

"Yes."

"And you've managed our relations well with all of them and the United Republic..."

"I've tried but there's still so much left to be improved. None of it has been optimized yet but, I just need a little more time."

"And you will have more time, more time, and more authority to do as you choose," Zuko reassured her.

Izumi looked up at him as his intentions dawned on her.

"What are you-Father, no! I'm not ready!" the Crown Princess cried.

"You are, Izumi. The favor I need to ask you, is that when those flames need to be lit again tomorrow, they be your flames, Izumi. Yours now and forever. _You are ready_."

"Father, I-" Izumi began to protest, thinking of her so… delicate relationship with Yoko at the moment.

"Izumi, I know you have reservations about taking charge, but the people _will_ follow you. They've seen your raw strength, they've seen your effectiveness in international negotiations. They have never protested any decision you've made…"

"That is not true and you know it! They have protested my desire to train my own daughter in firebending. They think I am foolish, they think I am weak because I am a woman. They think my place is in a bedroom, not on a throne, Father, don't pretend you don't see it. They hate me!"

"They don't, trust me, Izumi. Part of the reason why I am abdicating instead of leaving the throne to you when I die is so that if you have any questions, your mother, your aunt, and I are all still here to advise you during the transition, we will be here to guide you. But you must step up, Izumi. You are what the nation needs now as the world pushes forward into the future. You have never been a prisoner of another country. You have have never committed a war crime-"

"But I HAVE committed murder-"

"You've close relationships with people from all four nations. Your progressiveness will benefit all greatly. It's your turn to light the torch."

Seeing now that Zuko was not going to take no for an answer, Izumi relented with a heavy sigh. "How soon will the coronation be?"

"Tomorrow morning," Zuko replied.

Izumi looked up at the throne, imagining herself there... alone… not by her father's side, having to conduct every meeting, listen to all of the generals and the ministers drone on and on about petty things.

"I know it is a lot and may seem sudden, but it isn't," Zuko said coming through the flames. "We've all known that you've been ready for quite a while, Izumi," he added, hugging his daughter. "And frankly, I would have given you the throne at least a decade ago."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Izumi said nothing. What was there left to say? This wasn't a gift. Just more responsibility. Just another burden for her to bear while the guilt from neglecting her daughter due to her political obligations still loomed over her head.

"Is that all, Father?" Izumi asked formally.

"Yes," Zuko replied.

"May I return to Masaru's estate for the evening?"

"May your mother and I join you?"

"While you are still Fire Lord, we are in no position to refuse," Izumi replied.

* * *

Dinner was a quiet affair with just Mai, Zuko, Masaru, Izumi, and Miyoko.

 _Mother was so happy before she left, what happened?_ Miyoko asked herself upon her mother's return. "Grandmother, why is Mother sad again?" Miyoko asked.

"Why don't you ask her?" Mai suggested. Izumi looked up, also curious.

"Because I don't want to make her even more sad," Miyoko explained as if her mother weren't there.

"May I tell her?" Zuko asked Izumi.

"Of course," Izumi said quietly, barely touching her food.

"Your mother is going to be crowned Fire Lord tomorrow," Zuko answered the small child.

Miyoko took a moment to process it. "Does this mean I can come out of hiding and finally help you all with your various diplomatic ventures? Does this mean I can be legitimized?" Miyoko asked excitedly.

Izumi couldn't help but chuckle. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, Love, but it is not so simple. Throughout the years, I have come to realize, it won't be so easy to enact such change that quickly."

"Oh," Miyoko said sadly.

"But I will do everything I can to get for you the freedom that you deserve. I know you didn't choose this life of secrecy."

"I didn't. But I am glad I am here, because I have you again," Miyoko said looking up at Izumi with her wide, almost hopeful amber eyes.

After dinner, the Royal Family had to return to the palace for some final preparations for the coronation the next day.

"Yoko, would you like to come with me? You can sleep in my bed again, like old times," Izumi offered.

Miyoko considered it then looked to her father for permission.

"Go. I'll be there tomorrow morning," Masaru told her.

Miyoko ran over to her mother who swept the girl up into her arms.

"Aren't I too big to carry all the way to the palace?" Miyoko asked expressing concern for her mother's wellbeing.

"Yoko, you're scarcely fifty pounds. How weak a Fire Lord would I be if I couldn't carry my own daughter home one evening?" Izumi asked smiling, touching her nose to her baby's.

Miyoko laughed and leaned her head on her mother's shoulder. They remained standing there by the entrance to the secret tunnel for a moment, Yoko in Izumi's arms, Zuko and Mai waiting patiently to go.

"I love you so much more than anything in this world, Yoko. Know that, remember it, please." Izumi said softly, stroking the girl's long black hair and feeling her heartbeat.

"I do," Miyoko replied. The royal family and Miyoko descended the steps into the secret tunnel and walked back to the palace.

* * *

Miyoko waited on Izumi's bed for her mother to return. An hour passed.

"So sorry! I was having rooms readied for you and your brothers and Saru! Ones that you can decorate like at your father's estate. Here, a nightgown for you if you would like to wear it," Izumi offered, handing her daughter a brand new custom-made silk piece of clothing.

Miyoko examined it. It all seemed so surreal. She watched her mother remove her crown, take down her hair and brush it, then remove her armor and set it atop a dresser. She firebent into some nondescript space on the wall and a secret door opened.

"WOAH! What's that?" Miyoko asked, watching her mother disappear into it.

Izumi laughed. "Just my closet. Your father had the same mechanisms installed at his house and inspired me to do the same here," Izumi explained as she untied her robes and slipped them off, discarding them into a laundry bin. She watched her mother pull a similar nightgown to her own on and tie it at the waist. Then she pulled down a girdle of sorts and put it over her robe.

"Why do you need that?"

"To keep the spine straight,"

"Isn't it uncomfortable?"

"Yes, but my Mother says it's necessary."

"But why do you listen?"

"Because she is my mother."

"Will you still have to listen even when you're Fire lord?"

"Probably."

"Why?"

Izumi strode over and climbed into bed beside her daughter.

"Because no matter your status or your rank, a girl will always remain her mother's baby," Izumi replied tucking a lock of hair behind Miyoko's ear affectionately.

Miyoko smiled and laid down beside her mother, curling up in the crook of her body.

Izumi smiled and raised her hand to beckon all of the flames on the torches to go out, leaving the only light in the room of that from the moon. Just as she closed her eyes, she felt someone lift a blanket over her and her baby.

"Thanks, Mother," Izumi said.

"Sleep well, My Love. You're ready," Mai whispered kissing Izumi's head before rounding the bed to kiss Miyoko as well.

After the footsteps recessed down the hall, Miyoko spoke in barely a whisper. "You're right!"

"About what?" Izumi asked with a smile.

"Even you will remain a baby in your mother's eyes too."

"Mothers are ALWAYS right," Izumi whispered back kissing the top of her girl's head.

* * *

Miyoko woke to find her mother already up and bathed. She put her fists together and her hair turned blue for a quick instant then black again but was dried. Miyoko gasped.

"Good, you're awake! I've set your clothes out on my side of the bed. You'll rendez-vous with your father and your brothers at around nine, after breakfast then attend the coronation at eleven. Saru will do… something with you until two when you shall all have an audience with me to do… something- Can you remember that?"

Miyoko nodded.

"Good," Izumi said, coming over to kiss the girl. She walked over to her dresser and opened the top drawer to pull out some clean bindings.

"Nope! No bindings today, Princess!" Iliana called hurrying in with a team of servants each carrying a box of varying sizes..

"That could only mean one thing," Izumi muttered, walking over to the bed.

"New robes. New armor…" Iliana listed out opening the various boxes. "And yes, a new corset."

"Great," Izumi muttered.

"Well, you know how it goes," Iliana said opening the box.

"What's the measure?" Izumi asked as her maid closed the device around her.

"18 inches, but your mother said today you can get away with nineteen"

"Why does my mother insist on torturing me on special days?" Izumi asked herself as she braced herself for the ordeal.

"Because even though you will be the Fire Lord, your words will fall on deaf ears if the ministers and generals aren't paying attention."

"So you want me to engage them with what I am saying by a tiny waist?" Izumi asked skeptically.

"Exactly!" Iliana exclaimed.

Izumi sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yoko," Izumi called.

Yes?" Miyoko the girl responded, sliding across the bed to where her mother stood gripping one of the posts.

"Could you remind me to add banning this stupid article of clothing from ever being manufactured again," Izumi asked her.

"Yep!" Miyoko said, hopping off and running over to her mother's dressing table to write it down on a scrap of parchment.

"Okay. You get a ten minute break," Iliana said tying off the knot.

"Okay. Yoko, lets get you dressed. You have to look presentable today."

"For who?" Miyoko asked, pulling off her nightgown over her head.

"For me," Izumi replied, holding up her daughter's dress robes.

"When did you start wearing those things?" Miyoko asked, pointing at Izumi's corset.

"When I was eight or nine, maybe," Izumi replied tying the fastening at her child's waist.

"Why don't I have to wear them?" Miyoko asked handing her mother a golden ribbon.

"Because I am your mother and I'm not as cruel as many think I should be," Izumi replied, tying it around the baby's torso. Izumi lifted a double layered collar over her girl's head and buttoned it at the back, then pulled out her daughter's hair. Izumi brushed out all the night tangles while her daughter sat in the chair.

"Traditionally we would tie all of it up, but you look so nice with it down," Izumi said, contemplating a style.

"You can compromise with yourself and tie half up and leave the rest down," Miyoko suggested with a shrug.

"You're right. It's not very traditional, but it IS the dawning of a new era today," Izumi said kissing her girl on the cheek and proceeding to tie up half of her hair into a bun. Miyoko analyzed her mother's handiwork then pulled two tendrils from the bun to let hang and frame her face.

"Like your Great Aunt Azula," Izumi laughed.

Miyoko shrugged.

"Princess," Iliana called to finish the lacing.

"I'll take it from here. Iliana, will you please check on the Princess Ursa? Marnie seems to be struggling," Mai said, entering the room.

"Ursa came back from the South Pole?" Izumi asked with a gasp.

"She had to obey the summons of the Fire Lord. Iroh is here too, as are your other children," Mai said undoing the knot Iliana made in her daughter's corsets.

Izumi sighed.

"What's wrong?" Mai asked knowingly.

"Nothing—" Izumi lied.

Mai pulled hard on Izumi's laces eliciting a groan from her daughter. "You may be able to mask the truth from everyone else in the world, but not me, Zumi. Spill it."

"What if they react badly to their siblings?" Izumi asked in a whisper.

"They'll get over it. You will be Fire Lord. Your decisions will all be final and they will have no place questioning you. Don't worry," Mai said. She pulled the last bit of the corset closed at the top nearly crushing her daughter's ribs.

"Mother, why do we do this?" Izumi asked.

"Do what?"

"Why do you make me wear a corset on my coronation? I'm fifty-three years old. Who are we trying to impress? I don't need a husband-"

"You are the first female Fire Lord in known history," Mai began to explain. "However much progress has been made in the last fifty seven years, you're still a woman and as I am sure Iliana has already explained, your words may still fall on deaf ears because the generals don't fear you as they did Azula at the end of the war. You will need all the help you can get to keep them engaged," Mai explained as she attached straps to the back of the corset, forcing Izumi's shoulders down and back.

Then came the pants, boots and Fire Lord robes. The trim was embroidered and much more detailed on the hems.

Then came the new armor. Three layers of padding hung down and three layers of spikes stood up. The flame on her chest gleamed bigger, and brighter in the light with five points instead of three and had a hole in the center to let out some energy.

"It feels like an anchor, weighing me down," Izumi commented, looking in the mirror as her mother gathered half of her black hair in a bun.

"To remind you that even though you sit above the common man with all the power in the world, you too are still mortal," Mai explained with the same emotionless face she wore every day since she was born.

Izumi nodded and turned around to face her ten-year-old girl.

"Well, how do I look?" Izumi asked her baby.

Miyoko gaped up at her mother. "Positively frightening with those shoulder spikes."

"I guess that's a good thing," Izumi thought aloud.

"I think you should probably go find your father now, Yoko," Mai suggested to her youngest grandchild.

"Yes, Grandmother!" Miyoko nodded with a bow before breaking off into a run.

"Any advice mother?" Izumi asked turning to the Fire Lady hopefully.

"Don't smile. Not at all today. You must showcase strength more than anything. Your Father is giving you this crown. You're not earning it through trial by combat nor good old-fashioned, ruthless family murder. You must show that you deserve it. Chin up, eyes down. You must be still as a vulture-viper ready to lash out," Mai said, laying Izumi's wavy hair behind her shoulders. "Never show a thing you feel inside, do you understand me?"

"Perfectly," Izumi replied.

Mai kissed her on the cheek then nudged her hand forward. "Let's go find your aunt and father."

* * *

Miyoko practically slid into her father, not expecting her new shoes to have so little traction.

"Yoko! Didn't your mother tell you? You're not supposed to be running in your dress robes," Masaru said catching her.

"She may have failed to mention that," Miyoko replied, standing up and fixing her hair.

"Yoko, meet your brothers. They're all involved in various business ventures throughout the world which is why they don't come home often," Maaru said. "Boys! Meet Miyoko. She is your little sister. I trust you'll treat her kindly," Masaru said with both hands on his ten year old's shoulders.

Twenty-one year old twins, one with a low tail, and one without, along with four other men all turned to Miyoko. She took a step back, closer to her father.

"Miyoko, is it? I am Tetsuya," the twin without the long, free-flowing hair said, bowing to her.

"Tatsuya," the one with the long ponytail said.

"Sasuke," the one with a low, short ponytail and slicked back hair said with a nod.

"Rikuto," one with short, relatively messy hair said, waving with a big toothy grin that indicated he was DEFINITELY raised abroad.

"Taemon," an elegant man with a proper Fire Nation bun said with a polite nod.

"Takeo," the last, and presumably oldest man said. He too had a pony tail but it was high and medium in length that very much reminded Miyoko of Grandfather Zuko's hair when he was young.

"Let's get to our seats," Masaru said as he led them away, not letting go of Miyoko's hand as they exited the palace to the main plaza.

The Fire Sages took the stage first followed by Zuko and the rest of the royal family. Mai stoodto his left and back a ways. Izum, immediately to his right and on the edge of the stage like him. Irohstood to his mother's right but back a ways and wearing not a Fire Nation Army uniform or even Fire Nation robes but his United Forces Officer his right, his sister Ursa stood, fifteen years his younger with long dark hair half up in a delicate bun and a long gown with wide sleeves, her beautiful, smooth, young face marred by a scowl. She was angry about something as she watched her mother crouch down beside her grandfather A massive gong rang out, silencing the crowd of tens of thousands prompting everyone to bow. Then they all stood again while Zuko remained kneeling as Fire Sage Miu removed the crown from his head.

"Zuko, Fire Lord to our Nation for fifty seven years. You taught the Avatar firebending and helped end a century of conquest and bloodshed. You ushered in a new era of love, peace, and prosperity for the Fire Nation. You lead us through a depression and a second industrial revolution. You are father of Izumi…husband of Mai… grandfather to Iroh… grandfather to Gansu, now passed… grandfather to Ursa…"

"Father, she's beautiful!" Miyoko whispered to Masaru as she looked up at Princess Ursa.

"Shhhh!" Masaru hushed her.

"By royal decree of Fire Lord Zuko, we shall pass the crown onto his daughter, and only child," Fire Sage Miu said, walking over to Izumi.

"All hail Fire Lord Izumi!"

Izumi entered the throne room and took her father's place, lighting the trough with blazing blue flames that heated the entire room to temperatures the castle hadn't known since she blew it up twelve years ago.

The first step was to have each of the ministers and generals in her father's council swear fealty to her. Then came the Fire Sages.

"Before my great great grandfather Sozin started the war, the Fire Sages served the Avatar, correct?"

"That is correct, my lord," the head sage replied.

"Then you will return to serving the Avatar. Your services are no longer needed in the palace. Nor anywhere else except the humanitarian sector. Your funding shall be reduced to all that is needed to run the Capital Temple and no more. You shall all be required to aid the humanitarian sector in restoring historical sites as well as refurbishing the orphanages in the city. All of your activities will be closely monitored for quality assurance and honesty. Any questions?"

"No, my lord," Sage Miu said.

"Good. Now leave this palace immediately. Should you ever dare speak against me, you will be destroyed slowly and painfully." Izumi ordered the Fire Sages.

"My Lord," the Royal scribe interrupted as the Fire Sages filed out. "Are you sure you would like that last bit included in the official records of the court proceedings?" He asked.

Izumi turned to him, bending the fire to split so he could see the expression on her face.

"What do you think, Jiyu?" She asked, narrowing her golden tangerine colored eyes.

"No, Milord."

Izumi nodded. "Bring in Genkei Saitamaki and his accomplices!" Izumi ordered the guards.

"My Lord," the man named Genkei said, bowing to the new Fire Lord with seven people behind him also bowing, six men and one woman.

"Genkei, as discussed, you will be my personal servant and my daughter's official handler. As for the rest of you, stand by while I bring in your charges," Izumi turned to the imperial guard. "Bring in Masaru Lee and his children," Izumi ordered.

* * *

"Everyone up, the new Fire Lord has summoned us to come before her," Masaru said to his herd.

"Why can't we just call her Mother? She's not exactly an all powerful Fire Lord like Sozin and Ozai were," one of the twins, Tatsuya asked.

"While she is in her official capacity, you will address her as such. Only at home, you may still call her mother," Masaru clarified. "Now come on. It's rude to keep someone of her status waiting!"

The family knelt before Izumi, with Masaru in front and his seven children lined up behind him in birth order. Genkei's soldiers fell behind the children.

"Masaru Lee, as a reward for your massive contributions towards reducing the unemployment rate in the Fire Nation as well as the development of infrastructure and social services to the lower classes, you and your family shall be granted residence in the palace as well as my full protection. The guards you see behind you will be your personal handlers. They will see to it that no harm will come to you. In addition, they will ensure that you have not everything you want, but everything you need," Izumi informed them.

Miyoko looked at the woman behind her. She was very young-not much older than Princess Ursa by the looks of it. How did she become one of her mother's agents?.

"Genkei will show you to your quarters here. Dismissed," Izumi ordered.

They all rose silently and filed out followed by their new 'handlers.'

* * *

"Father, will we get to meet the Prince and Princess soon?" Miyoko asked Masaru at dinner in the Cherry Blossom Hall of the palace.

"Meet?" Rikuto asked with his mouth full from the other end of the table. Miyoko reeled at his ghastly lack of manners. "Keyo, Suke and I already know 'im. Grew up with 'im at the estate until 'e went off to boot camp for the United Forces!" Rikuto said tearing off another chunk of meat from the massive piece of pork perched on his fork.

"But I mean the rest of us? Mother promised us that when she became Fire Lord, she will legitimize us and we can come out of hiding! Or has she forgotten that promise too?" Miyoko sighed.

"She has not forgotten, Yoko. She just has a LOT on her list of things to do. She's already changed a lot in her first day as Fire Lord by effectively exiling the Fire Sages from the palace for the first time in history. That already has people starting to ask questions. Sometimes the most dangerous thing among the masses is creativity. Your Mother has to tread carefully and be discreet in the changes she wants to enact both for the nation and the royal family. You will all be legitimized-just not immediately," Masaru explained.

"Do you think she will come to us this evening or just stay with the 'royal family proper?'" Miyoko asked.

"She will come to us, just not immediately. You must be patient Miyoko," Masaru said, taking a delicate bite of food.

"And Yoko," Tetsuya said turning to the ten year old with a rather beautiful smile. "As you get older, you'll find that you need dear Mother less and less," he said, taking a sip of wine.

Miyoko considered his words before frowning. "But we'll still need her!" she clarified.

"To an extent," Tetsuya replied. Miyoko looked at the entrance to the Cherry Blossom hall and sighed as she took another bite of food.

* * *

After changing into her nightgown in her new room and letting down her hair, Miyoko examined the grills over the ventilation shaft under her dressing table. _I could still fit in. Maybe I could find mother and if not talk to her, watch her like I used to._ Miyoko yanked off the cover and slid into it easily, crawling. She knew where she was in the palace and began making her way towards the royal residence quarters where Mother slept.

She heard her mother's voice.

"Ursa, you KNOW that is not the case!"

"No, I don't! Has it ever occurred to you that I don't care for freedom anymore? Has it ever occurred to you that I just need more time by your side? I feel like I don't even know you! Grandfather calls us home to attend your coronation without warning and—,"

"Don't blame me for that! He only told me last night!" Izumi responded.

"So let me guess, you're just going to get even busier."

Izumi sighed. "If I had a choice, you KNOW I would go with you, at least once."

"You CAN! You have all the power in the world! You can make Kei Lo regent or spirits, EVEN GRANDFATHER and come away with me, just once! I don't understand how you can be so afraid all the time!"

"I'm not afraid! I know where I'm needed most and it's not in the desert standing by while you outdrink some some sandbenders!"

"How- you sent your spies after me?!"

"To protect you and make sure you kept up your alias to protect the royal family as a whole. Everything I've done has been FOR the family!"

"No, everything you've done has been FOR YOURSELF! Get out, Mother," Ursa growled.

"Ursa—"

"I said get out!"

Miyoko gasped as she watched.

"You should be in bed, little Miss," a voice whispered to Miyoko. She yelped and shot up, only to hit her head against the roof of the vent and began to cry.

The voice gasped. "Shhhhh!"

Miyoko found her head encased in water, healing water and the pain begin to subside. She looked up and saw the face of her handler.

"You're a— waterbender?" Miyoko asked.

"Yes. Your mother figured you could use the healing. As a high-energy child, you're more prone to getting yourself into— sticky situations that can result in injury," her handler said returning the water to the skin on her back. "Come on out, this way," she said backing out of the tunnel.

"How did you fit into the vents?" Miyoko asked climbing out and dusting herself off.

"This is my colleague, Tadashi. He's an earthbender and also in the Fire Lord's service. I asked him to open it up for me when I saw you'd left your room for the evening," her handler said motioning to a man who stood by them waiting patiently.

"Sunako, Tadashi, I'll take her from here, thank you," Izumi said as she strode towards them, looking absolutely livid.

Miyoko shrunk back a little.

"To bed you go," she said clamping a hand onto Miyoko's shoulder.

"Ow! Ma, you're hurting me!"

Izumi stopped then to simply pick her up so she couldn't fight or run.

"Until I can complete the process of legitimizing you, nobody can know I am your mother. As a rule of thumb, if I'm wearing the crown I am Fire Lord Izumi and nothing else."

"Like a puppet in a stage production," Miyoko said, leaning on her forearms on the Fire Lord's fancy ceremonial armor, frowning at the crown.

"Yoko," Izumi said in a condescending tone as they reached the child's much smaller bedroom in the government staff resident quarters.

Miyoko snatched the crown out of her mother's bun as she was set down.

"Mother!" Miyoko replied mimicking her tone, running to the other side of the room, the gold gleaming in her hand in the torch light.

"Yoko! You insolent—" Izumi ran around the bed, her ceremonial robes flowing around her legs. Miyoko dove under it and started out the door right into the belly of a man. She fell back on her bottom and looked up in fear. It was just her father. She and her mother both let out a sigh of relief.

Izumi leaned against the wall and slid down to sit on the ground, covering her face with her sleeve.

"Zumi," Masaru said, passing Miyoko.

"Why is Mother crying now?" Miyoko asked, offering back the crown.

Izumi pushed it away. "Because I don't want that wretched thing," Izumi replied with one hand pressed against her diaphragm as her sobs came in shallow gasps and hiccups, restricted by the corset under her ceremonial robes.

"It's just another burden worse than being a princess. The power is all an illusion, Yoko. You're right. I'm just a puppet in a stage production. Everything I do or say has to be so carefully planned out to minimize retribution… and I'm already afraid that today I've already made too many mistakes," Izumi confessed. Masaru pulled her into his lap and pulled the golden ring off of her bun and undid the ribbon that was under it. He ran his fingers through her dark locks and just sat with her while she wept silently.

"Yoko, come with me, give them some time alone," a voice ordered.

Miyoko looked up and saw her great Aunt Azula. Instinctively, she backed away towards her parents.

"She won't cook you for supper. You can trust her, Yoko," Masaru said, noting the hesitation.

Miyoko placed her mother's crown by the golden ring and the crimson ribbon and joined Azula, who swept the girl up and onto her hip and walked away.

"What is it with you people carrying me? I'm ten years old and perfectly capable of walking on my own!"

"It's because you're the baby!" Azula explained. Miyoko furrowed her brows and eyed her Great Aunt suspiciously.

"So why did Grandfather give up the crown when Mother clearly doesn't want it?"

"Your mother will end up with it eventually. He wanted to do it now so that if she does have any major problems, which we all highly doubt, we're all still around to advise her," Azula explained.

"Why does she think she messed up today? She just got rid of the Fire Sages and made a couple changes in the council of generals and council of ministers, right?"

"She also partially replaced the imperial guard with members of her own personal secret army."

"Really?"

"Sh! You're not supposed to know that!"

"Then why are you telling me?"

"Because unlike your mother, I do what I want to and not what I need to," Azula replied.

"How is that a good thing?"

"It definitely makes things easier to get done,"

"In what way?"

"You don't have to wait for permission or opportunity. You just do it….I guess what I'm trying to say is, you don't need to be legitimized to live a full and happy life. It will happen but it will take a while. In the meantime, don't let fear stop you from doing what you want to."

"I'm not afraid. I want to help with maintaining the peace in the country, and lighten the load for my mother-I just don't want to cause any more problems for her either."

"Yoko, listen to your own words. You want to help, but don't want to cause problems. When I was seventeen years old, I came to terms that the throne would never be mine despite my father telling me my whole life that it would. I discovered that my destiny was to help shape my brother, Lord Zuko, into the best Fire Lord that he could be, by exposing just how similar he could be to his forefathers in times of turmoil so that he wouldn't make the same mistakes as they did. You need to find your own destiny, Yoko. I highly doubt it is continuing to hide in those walls, just because your mother tells you that it is something everyone needs you to do."

"So are you sanctioning rebellion?"

"I am not sanctioning anything, nor can I. I haven't had any authority in the Fire Nation since I was fourteen years old, Yoko. You on the other hand, have a lot more power than you think in spite of your status as an illegitimate child, BECAUSE your mother is the Fire Lord now and we all know that dear little Zumzu will let you get away with a LOT of things. Trust me," Azula said to the girl.

* * *

 **A/N**

 _And that is IT for **the Princess's Fire.**_

 _Izumi has had to struggle and fight and that has made her really strong. It took some time to learn how to control her herself, her inner power, and finally her own life (and get rid of the Fire Sages once and for all)._

 _The next part will take place EIGHT years after this chapter in the year 175AG, AFTER the events of **Legend of Korra** and AFTER **Lives Forgotten** and E **arth and Air**. _

_It is called " **The Fire Lord's Flames** "_

 _It is basically about someone deciding to test just how 'in control' Izumi is of everything. Has she really mastered herself and her surroundings? Is the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation as perfect and prosperous as the papers make it out to be? What happens when crisis arises? Is it dealt with lawfully? Keep reading to find out._

* * *

 _I would like to send HUGE thanks to **MusicPlayer81** for being my beta, adviser, and friend and for helping me whenever I got stuck!_

 _Thank you **HiroWife** for your review after the first chapter over a month after I had abandoned the story and for inspiring me to come back to it. Thank you to **DressyOne22** and the guest **Mogor** and **Kuroneko300** for your reviews and a BIG thanks to **Julyza** for all of your reviews and for making sure my stor(ies) (and other people's) are compliant with site rules! _

_Sorry for the long note! As always, all feedback is greatly appreciated! I hope you enjoyed this first "phase" of Izumi's magnificently trying life (as much as it can be enjoyed). :) and have a great weekend!_


	31. 2,1: The Summoning

_Fire Lord Izumi, if she were terrified of ruling, she never did show it. She exuded nothing but confidence without all of the arrogance. She was perfectly placed up there on the Fire Nation Throne as the day's proceedings began. Her eight years wearing the crown thus far had been without major incident. The economy was booming and the technology advancing rapidly. While the Fire Nation didn't have a Varrick creating spirit vine weaponry and magnetic trains, it didn't need it. What we revolutionized was not in machines, but in our own being and in our bending._

Sunako looked down at the nubs at the ends of her arms where her hands used to be. She kept them covered in fabric even though they were clean; the charred flesh had long since been removed, and normal-looking skin pulled over the stub, sewn shut and healed, but still the sight of it made people uneasy when they saw her.

"Sunako, come forward," Fire Lord Izumi called.

Sunako walked forward and bowed her head.

"I know we have a royal scribe, but this next part of the meeting is important and I have noticed our scribe sometimes omits critical information from the archives," Izumi said glancing sideways at the nervous looking man sitting at a desk nearby with a stack of blank parchment, a brush, and an ink well. "Would you mind recording the proceedings? It is just for an hour? I know it is not your responsibility to do something so menial, but you are the most efficient at writing, and I value that greatly," Izumi asked.

Sunako bowed again she lifted one of her nubs and bent the water from one of her skeins to push the cork out. She used the water to pull out a sheet of parchment she kept in her satchel and unrolled it, freezing the corners and holding it in the air. With her other nub, she pushed ink out of a second skein with her and held up a carefully measured glob before the page. Some of the generals gasped while others shrunk back on the cushions where they sat. Sunako smirked and looked up at the Fire Lord. The Fire Lord's expression never did change while she sat on that throne. She was the perfect Fire Lord, regal, composed, and responsible.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Summoning**

* * *

 **175AG**

 **In the Fire Nation Capital**

Tenzin and Lin landed Oogi in the forest just beyond the volcano that enclosed the Fire Nation Capital and Palace. It wasn't their first choice for entering the Fire Nation, but Fire Lord Izumi specifically asked that they fly under cloud cover and land somewhere hidden. As the newlyweds slid off of their sky bison, they were approached by a man dressed in crimson robes flanked by members of the Fire Lord's Imperial Guard.

"You must be the Airbending Master Tenzin and the Lady Lin Beifong," the man asked, approaching with his hands folded in front of him, bowing as he stopped.

"I am also an earth and metalbending master, but people only do seem to remember the 'lady part', nowadays" Lin sighed, mildly irked by the unintentional slight.

"Forgive me. It will not happen again Master Beifong. My name is Tadashi, and if you both will follow me, her Lordship, Izumi, is waiting," the guard said formally, leading them to a Satomobile nearby in the woods. They drove through several secret underground tunnels before reaching a garage beneath the palace.

"Last time I was here, Zumzu was getting married for the first time. After that, she always came to Republic City, and now I know why," Lin said as they made their way through massive, extravagant hallways on their way to the throne room.

"Why?" Tenzin asked.

"This place is… rather dull," Lin replied noting the dark red walls and deep golden paneling throughout with occasional tapestries and wall murals of burning villages and other various conquests scattered through the halls.

They had to wait a few minutes for a meeting to adjourn and the council of Ministers to clear out before they could enter.

The throne room was a cavernous space with ceilings at least sixty feet high. Golden dragons were carved out of massive pillars that supported the ceiling on the sides of the carpet that led up to the throne.

"May I have the honor of presenting Master Tenzin of Air Temple Island and Master Lin Beifong of Republic City and Gaoling," Tadashi announced to Izumi.

Both Lin and Tenzin bowed per custom.

"Oh stand up will you? That _really_ isn't necessary," the Fire Lord said impatiently from behind a wall of blue flames that nearly completely covered her from view. She stood above the wall of flames, extinguished them, and walked forward, dressed in the ceremonial robes that Lin knew she hated. "Captain Sheng," she called to an imperial guard member stationed by the door. "Will you please open the skylight? This place is depressing," the Fire Lord asked the guard.

"Yes, My Lord," the guard said running off.

"Lin!" Izumi exclaimed taking the metalbender's hands and kissing both cheeks before hugging. "Tenzin!" she added doing the same to the Air Nomad.

"How have you been, Izumi?" Tenzin asked.

"Not well, I'm guessing, judging by the annoyance in your voice and the fact that we had to arrive under cloud cover and land in the woods. Is war imminent or something?" Lin asked the Fire Lord with a good-natured smirk.

"No, at least… I hope not," Izumi said. "I just finished up with the Council of Ministers. I swear, they are the most unproductive bunch of people one could have in their advisory. It is like having to deal with a dozen Raikos!"

"Spirits, that sounds awful!" Tenzin exclaimed.

"Replace them," Lin suggested.

"Can't. My dear father made all of _those_ posts filled by national elections, so that the people can have the illusion that they have a say in Fire Nation politics. Not at all surprisingly, all of those 'elected' officials are simply old billionaires with good family names and parents with rather large amounts of influence in their respective regions and clusters of islands. All the ministers do is skew the information they're supposed to present to me in a futile attempt to convince me to make a decision in their best interests."

"So where then do you get reliable information on the current state of affairs in your nation?" Lin asked curiously.

"Directly from the people by way of _the Amber League_ ," Izumi replied mysteriously, as she led her friends from the now sunlit throne room after a section of the ceiling had been moved aside revealing a great skylight.

* * *

 **Ember Island, Fire Nation**

"Welcome to Ember Island!" Ursa said, greeting the two sky bison on the beaches flanked by two imperial guards.

Pepper landed carrying Jinora, Jinkun, Xiaoyu, Meelo and Rohan, and Sam landed carrying Jiexue, Hungjian, Ikki, Huifan, and Kang.

"WHEEEEEEE!" Ikki screamed as she slid off the tail of Pepper on an air scooter followed by Kang.

"Thank you so much for receiving us, Ursa," Huifan said, hugging the princess.

"Thank YOU for coming. It does get awfully lonely here in the Fire Nation," Ursa said with a warm welcoming smile.

"Lonely? But don't you live at the castle filled with knights and knaves and cooks and maids and...?" Ikki asked the Fire Princess rapidly.

"Well, hopefully not knaves, and we don't really anoint knights per say, but we do have the Imperial Guard, but they're not all that friendly. The maids are kind enough, but for safety purposes, they're rotated often to make sure none of them have enough time to learn the Palace well enough to stage an infiltration. There is nobody my age. I very much prefer to be traveling, but mother worries for my safety. Given the choice, she would just send me here with an army of guards when she needs more privacy or when I need more space..."

"That doesn't sound at all romantic! Being a princess must suck!" Ikki said, disappointed.

"Well, life isn't a fairy tale, Ikki. You learned that first hand just a few months ago, didn't you?" Ursa asked the girl, making her sad as she remembered her own mother's fall from grace.

"Don't listen to Ursa," Jinora said, frowning at Ursa as she urged Ikki towards Hungjian and Kang who were already making sand castles in the beach.

"Hey is it just me, or are there a bunch of creepy guys over on the cliffs watching us?" Huifan asked, pointing blindly up at the top of the surrounding rock faces.

Ursa looked up and shielded her eyes from the blazing sun. "They're not creepy. Two of them are high-ranking members of the Amber League. That one is Hiryur and that one is Genkei!" Ursa replied. "Hiryur is a firebender and one of my mother's personal servants, and Genkei is part-time handler and part-time adviser to Mother on all things that have to do with the Amber League.

"The Amber League?" Jiexue warily side eyeing the princess.

"Yeah. It's mom's secret police tasked with keeping her informed on the general public's needs, thoughts, opinions, and struggles so that she can make all of her decisions wisely," Ursa informed them.

"That sounds useful, but a bit invasive, don't you think? Doesn't she have elected officials from each region or island that can keep her informed of these things?" Jinkun inquired.

"She does, but she's found that their reports are falsified more often than not.. All they ever do is attempt to force my mother to pass ridiculous proposals that will only fill their own pockets with gold. Nobody cares as much for the lives and well-being of the citizens of the Fire Nation as much as she does." Ursa explained.

"Okay, but you only named two guys. There are at least a half dozen up there," Huifan said, not liking the feeling of their gazes on her friend and her siblings.

"They must be either friends of Hiryur and Genkei or other agents. I don't know everybody in the League," Ursa said, waving for her future cousins to follow her to the Royal Family's vacation home on Ember Island.

"I can't believe we are going to get to see the Fire Lord's ACTUAL house!" Kang yelled, running up to the doors as two guards swung them open to reveal a large ballroom with a throne at the end and a portrait of Izumi, Hisoki and baby Iroh.

"WOAH! Is that your father?" Kang asked pointing at the stoic man standing next to Izumi with his arm around her small waist while she held the crowned prince.

"Yes. He was Hisoki Ibonara, a great man from the Yianxi province" Ursa said with her arms folded behind her back as she looked up at the man in the painting. "But, he was kidnapped by insurgents when Iroh was three. Then twelve years later, he escaped and returned to the castle, only to be assassinated that evening before Iroh could even get back from the United Forces Academy and greet him," Ursa said sadly.

Huifan and Xiaoyu both studied the photograph intently.

"I don't like how his hand is holding her," Huifan said with finality, breaking the silence.

"What's wrong with it?" Ursa asked, peering closer at the photograph.

"See how the fabric on your mom's dress bends under his fingers? His hand isn't just placed there, it's gripping her," Huifan answered.

"Must just be the artist's interpretation of their pose," Ursa dismissed, walking away.

"It seems aggressive, like he has to remind her to smile," Xiaoyu whispered to Huifan.

"And the timing doesn't add up. Hisoki was killed before she was born, after being home a day," Huifan replied suspiciously.

"I can't believe we're actually in the FIRE LORD'S HOUSE!" Meelo yelled, chasing Kang around the various pillars on an air scooter, breaking Huifan and Xiaoyu's trains of thought.

"It is just a house, calm down!" Jinora yelled at him. "And we're supposed to be blending in while we're here, so shut up about being _so connected_ to the Fire Lord!"

"Oh, sorry," Meelo said coming off his air scooter as Kang crashed into him.

"Hey, this gold detailing is sooooo cool!" Hungjian said, examining the floor trim along the edge of the room.

"It's even more detailed in the palace. Come on guys. Let's go out to the courtyard. This place is depressing. The courtyard is much nicer, and brighter," Ursa said, motioning for them to follow.

"So Princess Ursa," Jinora asked the young woman.

"You know you can just call me Ursa... you used to just call me Ursa,"

"Ursa- what do you do in your free time?"

Ursa laughed. "What free time?"

"Well then if you don't have free time, what do you spend most of your time doing?" Jinora asked.

"Training. For a long while, I did nothing after dropping out of the Royal Fire Academy for Girls when I was ten. But as of now, it appears I will be my mother's successor so we have resumed training. Iroh is rather dedicated to the United Forces right now and the Fire Nation typically prefers loyalists even after grandfather Zuko's extensive reform," Ursa explained.

"They don't think Iroh is loyal enough to rule the Fire Nation?"

"Nope."

"Why?" Jinora asked

"Because the loyalists aren't actually 'loyal'; they're racist bastards who don't really care for bettering the Fire Nation or advancing technology or international relations. All they want to see is the scorched earth that great-grandfather Ozai failed to create," Ursa said bitterly.

"So what entails your training?" Jinora asked.

"Combat, reading, thinking, speaking, history, theology, philosophy, and staying up-to-date on all of the social and political affairs of all four nations."

"That must be fun!" Jinora said.

"It's rather boring, and sometimes it's just annoying." Ursa replied. "Reporters never do tell the full story. If you're lucky, all you get is a half-truth."

"To be honest, the half-truth is the only thing ever interesting to the common man." Jiexue admitted.

"I would think that a Princess would have access to the original reports, wouldn't she? Considering it is her job to stay updated on such things?" Xiaoyu asked.

"Yes, but the original reports on any given event are tens sometimes hundreds of pages long. It's so much! I don't know how my mother manages!" Ursa groaned miserably.

"With an Amber League apparently." Huifan muttered.

"Even with the Amber League, she's miserable! I am dreading the day I have to fill her shoes," Ursa thought aloud.

"Will you have to?" Huifan asked.

"Yeah, I don't get the impression that Aunt Zumi will want to force you into anything you don't want to do, especially something so… important." Jiexue added pensively.

"I don't have a choice! It is _just_ Iroh and me," Ursa responded.

"Do you think Iroh would accept the crown if you asked him to?"

"No, because we both know he wouldn't be able to hold it. We BOTH know that the loyalists will initiate an insurgency and possibly stage a coup."

"But do you even want the throne?"

"No." Ursa sighed. "But some say those who don't want power are the best ones to have it. They'll want to make their lives easy by minimizing protests and uprisings, and appeasing the people."

* * *

 **Fire Nation Royal Palace**

Lin and Tenzin sat on one crimson velvet upholstered couch, both with the same leg crossed over the other as they sipped their tea in one of the hundreds of reception rooms in the Royal Palace of the Fire Nation. Across from them, Masaru sat comfortably with his back nestled in the corner of the couch and his hand draped over one of the golden arms of it. He relaxed with his feet on the table and his cup of tea balanced perfectly on his chest. Beside him, Izumi sat perfectly straight with her legs crossed at the ankles, and still wearing her ceremonial robes from the meeting with the council of Ministers from all over the nation, when suddenly, they were interrupted.

"Fire Lord Izumi, Mr. Genkei Saitamaki is here to see you," the guard said peeking his head in.

"Send him in," Izumi replied clearly.

The servant bowed and opened the door completely for the handsome young man to enter.

Lin noticed Izumi always sit up a little straighter in the presence of any subordinates. Izumi motioned for the servant to close the door.

"Your report, Genkei?" she said giving him permission to speak.

"We have confirmed your suspicions, Fire Lord Izumi. Your daughter, Ursa, does not want the throne," Genkei replied.

Izumi set her tea cup on the table with a delicate hand. "I don't blame her in the least," the Fire Lord commented. "Thank you for the report, Genkei. You may retire for the rest of the evening. That will be all for today."

"Thank you, Fire Lord Izumi," Genkei said, bowing before backing out of the room.

"What was that about?" Lin asked once the man was gone.

"Ursa has not been enjoying her lessons, and I didn't want her to suffer the same fate I did being forced into this, so I thought it might be time to consider a different successor," Ursa said quietly.

"A different successor? Isn't Iroh-" Tenzin began to ask.

"Iroh is a general of the _highest_ rank of _the United Forces_ , an internationally-managed military force. The loyalists in the Fire Nation would _never_ fully accept him as their leader. By this point in time, they think he is just a pawn of the president of the council of the United Republic of Nations," Izumi explained.

"But, since we are getting married soon, we may have more options for successor," Masaru informed Lin and Tenzin with a confident smile.

"We have a son we intend to get legitimized, and if possible, named heir to the throne," Izumi revealed.

"A son?" Tenzin sputtered, choking on his tea.

"Wai-wai-wai-wait! Back up! YOU-" Lin stood and pointed at Masaru. "Had a child with my best friend, and you didn't even think to tell me?!" she yelled, the volume rising with each word she spoke.

"Several children, if we want to get into technicalities, but that's hardly relevant," Masaru replied shrugging lazily.

"Sev-several?!" Tenzin exclaimed.

"Why are you so shocked? You had a secret family too!" Izumi asked, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"We were happily married when they were born. We didn't make them _bastards-_ "

"We didn't have a choice!" Izumi yelled, her hair streaking blue. Lin flinched back. Masaru grabbed Izumi's wrist and pulled her to sit again, her hair quickly returning to its natural color.

"What was that?" Lin doing a double take of the top of the Fire Lord's head.

"Nothing." Izumi said taking a moment to breathe. "Look, Hisoki was gone, the Fire Sages were demanding a spare out of me, and I would not leave Iroh with no choice other than to be the Fire Lord succeeding me. I asked Masaru to have children with me so Iroh wouldn't live with the expectation that he would have to get married and have heirs and sit up on that throne daily. I did it so my children could grow up free of obligation and pain and have a chance at being happy, unlike me! I never wanted to be Fire Lord, and I don't want to automatically throw the crown onto my first-born's shoulders! For TWELVE YEARS, Hisoki did not return. TWELVE YEARS! I had to do SOMETHING!"

"How many children do you have with Saru?" Lin asked.

"Five, six? I don't remember." Izumi said, rubbing her temples. "Takeo, Rikuto, Sasuke, Taemon, Tetsuya, Tatsuya, and Miyoko, so seven?

"But Taemon is adopted," Masaru corrected her.

"Yes, Taemon is adopted," Izumi confirmed.

"Do Ursa and Iroh know?" Lin asked pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Iroh knew Takeo, Rikuto and Sasuke when they were little. They lived and played together until Iroh left for his mandatory military training. He never met the twins or Yoko. As for Ursa, she's heard of Takeo during military briefings since he is a high ranking general in the FIRE Nation army and played with the twins when she was really young, but probably doesn't remember them and has never met the others."

"How did you manage to hide them with everything else that was going on?" Lin asked.

"They lived with Saru in plain sight, went to school and just... lived life. One joined the army. One became a fairly prominent lawyer... When they were children, I visited daily trying to not miss anything until they all grew up and moved away."

"You need to tell Ursa and Iroh!" Lin said.

"I know!" Izumi sighed.

"You need to tell them BEFORE the world knows. They have a right to know their family!" Lin yelled.

"I know! I just need help with HOW to tell them!"

"Well-" Lin started but couldn't finish. Who was she to give advice on such a delicate topic as succession, secret-half siblings, and just... secret keeping? As it was, she considered the successful blending of all her children with Tenzin and Pema's children a miracle, but the stakes for that were significantly lower than the future of an entire nation.

"Our kids sort of just found each other on their own, in a way," Tenzin offered to Izumi remembering how Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Opal took their old photograph directly to the Beifong estate to investigate.

"So what? Just summon them all to the palace and wait?" Izumi asked. "Let them wander through the corridors aimlessly?"

"It would be risky, but..." Tenzin began to say.

"Okay," Izumi shrugged.

"Wait! I REALLY don't think this is a good idea. Maybe go ahead and summon them, but also talk to Ursa and Iroh first and just confirm that neither of them want to be your successor before carrying out the rest of that plan. It would be better for you to have that conversation with them directly than just sending spies who may have been paid off to provide you with false information. I don't ever remember Aunt Mai doing that with you," Lin suggested.

"You're right," Izumi sighed.

"I just don't want my future niece to feel like she's been stripped of something that is rightfully hers," Lin explained.

"Thank you both! For being here," Izumi said, hugging her old friends.

"TADASHI!" Izumi called in a servant. "Please summon all of my children."

"All of them?"

"ALL of them."

"Yes, my Lord."


	32. 2,2: Collection

**Chapter 2: Collection**

* * *

 **Foggy Swamp, Earth Kingdom**

The messenger cursed under his breath as he fell into another deep mud patty, wondering however he came into the service of such a League. Their aim was to maintain stability in the Fire Nation, and that depended on maintaining the sanity of the all-powerful, autocratic Fire Lord. Sure, she was loving, accepting, incredibly progressive compared to her ancestors, and exactly what their beloved nation needed, but her children? Spirits, her children were crazy, and keeping track of them was a fool's errand.

Just then he was launched out of the mud patty and into a tree.

"Please tell me you're not another swamp bender!" the messenger begged from where he hung over the branch, exhausted, and covered up to his waist in two days worth of caked mud.

"It depends!" the cheerful lad said standing above him, on the branch, without pants or really anything covering his body. "Swamp bender doesn't specify earth or water, now does it? Just a bender… in the swamp…"

The messenger sighed and closed his eyes as he plunged his hand into his pocket and withdrew a letter and lifted it up to the man, averting his eyes.

The man lit up. "Sorry for bending you into the tree Rinuk!" the man said, jumping down from the branch and bending a platform of earth up to the messenger. "Just roll over! I'll help you down!"

 _I'd rather die, here, thanks_ , the messenger was tempted to say as he lazily rolled over. The man slowly bent the earthen pillar.

"Come on! I know you're tired, but you've found me now! I just need to get back to the cave to tell Grandma Toph I'm leaving, and probably get cleaned up at least a bit. I know mother would appreciate it greatly."

"Yes, she would," _and so would the rest of the world_. The messenger thought to himself.

"GRANDMA TOPH! Mother wants us home! Would you believe it?" Rikuto asked leaping over some gnarly roots, sliding down into the cave, still completely naked.

"Yeah, yeah! Just find some clothes before you go. Not everyone in the world is so fortunate to be blind like me!" the old, blind earthbender grumbled from where she sat on a tree stump in the lotus position with her unseeing eyes closed.

"I will!" the man replied. With a slide of his feet and flex of his strong arms, he bent every speck of mud and dirt from his body. He then walked over to his earthen bed where he pulled a lump of metal off of a shelf carved into the wall, and bent it into a razor, shaving his face. He then bent it into a metal comb and detangled the mane that surrounded his head.

"Airship leaves in sixteen minutes, Kuto!" the original metalbender yelled from her tree stump as the messenger waited.

"I know! I saw the letter!" the man replied.

Rikuto Lee lived on the border between animal and human. He was far too happy, and far too sparsely clothed to be considered a civilized human being, but at the same time, far too intelligent, and compassionate to be considered the animal that he heavily resembled in his natural state in the Swamp, thought the messenger as he watched the primitive transform into the likeliness of a Fire Nation Prince.

"And when you meet your cousin Huifan, ask her to spar with you. She's good, but not nearly as good as she thinks, so give her a good ass whooping for me. Beat humility into the girly!" Toph called.

Rikuto laughed as he stood and buttoned up a black vest over a green button up jacket. "Will do, Granny!" he said cheerfully.

The messenger was in awe. The man's hair was naturally straight when not left untamed for thirteen years and filled with swamp vines and leaves. Rikuto brushed his suit off one last time, grabbed a ribbon to tie his waist length hair on the go, and picked up photograph on his bedside table and glanced at it for a few moments. It was a photo was of him, his full-blood siblings and his parents. He had even cut out a picture of General Iroh an Princess Ursa and taped it to the frame on either side of the photo to complete the family. The earthbender shoved the photograph into his shoulder bag and then kicked a chest out of the ground where he had buried it for safety. He blew off the dust and opened it before pulling out a long and beautifully crafted blade belonging to the Fire Nation Royal Family, gifted to him from his grandfather, Fire Lord Zuko. It was his identifier in case anyone questioned his purpose on the United Forces base.

"EIGHT MINUTES, RIKUTO!" Toph yelled.

"I KNOW!" the man yelled back sheathing the blade before shoving it too into his bag and running towards the messenger.

"Bye Grandma Toph! I'll see you soon!" Rikuto said, waving.

"Yeah yeah, just go before I miss you!" Toph yelled irritably before returning to her meditation scowling.

Rikuto smiled and then turned to the messenger. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," the messenger grumbled miserably as Rikuto lifted him up by the mud that caked his body, and ran as fast as he could with the assistance of his earth bending all the way to the nearest United Forces Navy Base on Chin City.

The messenger's head spun as the man set him down again. Rikuto Lee earthbent the delirious messenger completely clean then turned to the gate keepers of the base. "My name is Rikuto Lee. General Takeo Lee of the Fire Nation's Twenty First Division of the Third Army should be expecting me," he said, with his hand ready on the hilt of his blade in case they needed proof of his identity.

"He is, thank you for arriving promptly," the gate keeper said opening the doors. "We've been informed the Fire Lord's summons were urgent and the airship leaves in a minute."

Rikuto practically danced inside laughing. "Urgent," Rikuto laughed in incredulously. " _Yep! That's her!"_ he thought, remembering his childhood in his father's house before deciding to travel the world and find himself. Urgent was no emergency; it simply meant that his mother missed himShe just wanted at least one of her babies home so she could squeeze them for as long as they allowed. Rikuto didn't mind it but always longed to return to the swamp where no one criticized him for keeping company with nothing but dirt.

"KUTO!" Takeo yelled, running over to his little brother. "The green suits you, brother!" the Fire Nation General said, embracing the man affectionately. The general of the Fire Nation Army, like the grand General of the United Forces, rebelliously wore his hair short against the tradition of the men of the Royal Family.

"KEYO!" Rikuto yelled back pounding his older brother on the back heartily. "Long time no see! Last time I read the papers, you were barely a sergeant. Now you're the General of a WHOLE DIVISION of the army!"

"Time flies, doesn't it, Brother?"

"It does," Rikuto agreed. "So much has happened since I've been gone!"

"You would not believe it," Takeo replied.

"General Takeo," a captain interrupted the reunion. "The airship is ready for your departure."

"That's us, brother," Rikuto said.

"Yep! Let's go get the twins! Sasuke is going separately, and Miyoko is still in the Capital," Takeo nodded, draping an arm over his brother's shoulders and leading him onto the gangway and into the Royal Fire Nation Airship.

* * *

 **Seedy Earth Kingdom Tavern, Merchant Village**

The messenger entered the building under cloak, cursing under his breath about his assignment. He had to inform the twins of their mother's summoning.

One of them was easy to spot. Tetsuya Lee stood against a pillar with his arms folded across his chest, overdressed as always. He wore a deep crimson shirt with a perfectly tailored black jacket and pair of pants with a blood-red silk scarf. His long, slightly wavy black hair cascaded down his back with half of it up in a bun decorated with a flame. Not a single strand of hair was in front of his shoulders other than one chin-length lock of bangs that he let hang just left of his long pointed nose. He had his mother's sharp chin and narrow, orange-tangerine eyes. He never cared if he was being watched. He was confident-arrogant, really- in his ability to get away with anything.

Tonight was no different as he watched his twin brother, Tatsuya, fight it out with the bartender of this seedy establishment. The brother also kept his hair long per tradition of the royal family, but tied half of it up in a ponytail instead of a bun, and tied it of loosely with a black ribbon. He wore an oversized burgundy shirt that was barely secured by a pale yellow sash around his waist. Tatsuya swung another flaming punch at the bartender who drunkenly chucked two rocks in return, missing badly as the crowd of inebriates cheered. The messenger watched as the more aggressive twin smashed a bottle against an old oak table and thrust it down into the face of the bartender. Blood sprayed over the face and arm of the ponytailed firebender, yet the drunks took no notice. The messenger shook his head again. Then the younger twin then let go of the neck of the bottle. As the body of the bartender fell, he pressed his hand on the bartender's chest and electrocuted him for good measure to ensure he wouldn't waken the next morning.

 _Spirits, the Fire Lord would never believe me if I told her about the twins' illicit activities_ , the messenger thought as he approached the more responsible twin.

"Mr. Lee, your mother has issued a summon for you to return home immediately," the messenger said, bowing his head.

"Has she now?" Tetsuya asked, a wicked grin quickly filling his face.

As they left the tavern, a man slipped behind the bar and snatched up the young girl that was in charge of washing the cactus juice mugs and saluted the twins before darting out the back door.

* * *

 **Leesuke Law Office, Shu Jing, Fire Nation**

The messenger entered the law office, not expecting too much difficulty based on the description of his first level classified mission. Then again, first level classified missions never really went according to plan. The messenger was about to walk straight back when an earthen slab rose in front of the door he intended to pass through.

"Do you have an appointment with Mr. Lee?" the emotionless yet dutiful secretary asked, not looking away from her appointment log book, which for that hour, was completely empty.

"I have a message to deliver directly from the Fire Lord," the messenger admitted, using his last card as a first resort after sensing he was not going to get through this secretary.

"Of course, and I am the Avatar," the secretary deadpanned.

The messenger sighed.

"Appointments with this lawyer must be made two months in advance," the secretary informed the messenger.

"But he is free today, right now, and the message is urgent!" the messenger insisted heading towards, the door. As soon as he lowered the earthen slab with his own bending, the secretary raised a hand flinging a dozen metal strips out of her sleeve, pinning him to the wall across the lobby. The messenger did an arch kick bending a pillar straight through the secretary's desk.

"What is all of this commotion? We just started a-" Sasuke bellowed charging out of his office his voice making up for his lack of bending when it came to intimidation and range. "Fenjing?" he asked looking at the member of the Amber League assigned to him by his mother.

"I must praise your secretary. She does her job of keeping walk-in visitors out extremely well," the messenger said with a heavy sigh of relief that he no longer had to fight this small but powerful earth and metalbending woman.

"Is everything alright with my family?"

"They're all alive if that is what you're asking," the messenger replied.

"Then why are you here?"

"Your mother wants you home immediately. She told is it was urgent but wouldn't elaborate on why."

"This is rather inconvenient, but since she is my mother, I am afraid I will have to oblige. Do you know how long she would like us to stay?" Sasuke asked the messenger.

"Not sure. My apologies sir, I will be sure to ask next time," the messenger said.

"No worries. I know Mother can be… difficult," Sasuke replied understandingly.

"Thank you, Sir. It is always a pleasure working with you. Now if you will, could you kindly ask your secretary to let me down?" the messenger asked.

"Of course. Yin," Sasuke turned to the secretary.

The small earthbender frowned and released the messenger from his restraints, and then turned her gaze to the destroyed desk with not even the slightest dismay. With a stomp of her foot, she reinforced it with an earthen table underneath, pulled up her chair, and continued her bookkeeping over the splintered wood.

* * *

 **Xianxi Office Building, Ba Sing Se**

The messenger's orders were to get into the large office building undetected, and he almost succeeded, but the Dai Li knew the patterns of the operative of an organization so very much like their own and spotted him almost immediately. Fortunately, all of his training from the Dai Li, enabled him to escape his former comrades relatively easily without divulging his mission, which, though basic and relatively safe, was given with the instructions that it was a first level classified mission.

"Mr. Taemon Lee," the messenger said entering the man's office alone and closing the door behind him. "Your mother has summoned you to her side."

Taemon did not look up from the blueprints splayed across his desk. "My mother is dead, Unako" he stated bluntly. "Both my parents were killed by that combustion bender, P'li, a monster of his own making, when I was eight; have you forgotten, Boqi?" he elaborated as he slid a straight edge across the oversized page and added a line to the drawing.

"No sir! Forgive me!" the messenger said bowing, out of fear of the man sitting before him. "I meant to say the Fire Lord has summoned you to the palace. She has summoned all of her children to the palace."

"Why? I am no child anymore, nor have I ever been one of hers," the man replied with his cold gaze still focused on the floor plans on his desk.

"Yet she still holds you in the same regard, Sir. You grew up with her children," the messenger reminded the man.

"That I did," Taemon thought to himself, a small smile flashing across his angular face only for an instant before turning cold again. "Did she provide a reason for this summoning?" Taemon asked.

"No, Sir," the messenger gulped.

"Very well, let me pack a bag," Taemon said, standing up. He was a tall, medium built man with long black hair that he wore completely contained in a Fire Nation style bun completed with a golden flame symbolizing his allegiance. "I shall be ready to depart for the homeland in precisely seven minutes," Taemon informed to the messenger, his amber eyes boring into the messengers.

"Yes, Sir," the messenger said saluting before hastily taking leave to ready the airship for the return journey to the Fire Nation.

* * *

 **Ranshao Rikai University, Fire Nation Capital**

The messenger should have considered himself lucky. His assignment didn't involve exposure to swamp apparitions, murderers, thieves, stubborn secretaries, or the Dai Li. He had clearance to walk right into the girl's dorm room and speak to her directly. However, he knew the youngest daughter of the Fire Lord was stubborn as the earth she couldn't bend. She would not likely heed the summoning forcing the messenger to return to the palace without the person he was sent to retrieve, in essence, failing his mission as a member of the Amber League.

The metalbender took a deep breath before metalbending the lock to the room open. Sure enough, his own sources were correct. The girl was not in class but back at her room, studying so they would have privacy to speak.

"Miss. Miyoko, your mother has summoned you to her side," the messenger informed the girl.

"Thank you for telling me, Rinjuk, but my mother can wait; I'm busy." the young woman replied, her focus solely on a project she was working on at her desk.

"But Miss…" the messenger said panicking slightly, taking a deep to regain his composure. "Miss, your mother is the Fire Lord! She can—"

"— shoot all the lightning she wants at me for not coming immediately, but she won't because she is still **_just_** my mother," Miyoko replied.

"But—"

"Tell her that I have an exam on Friday and simply cannot spare the time. If she comes herself, I might oblige, but even that is not a guarantee," Miyoko ordered.

The messenger sighed in defeat. The girl was a lost cause. "Yes Miss," he said obediently to the legendary "Bastard of Earthen Fire Refineries," leaving nervously, fearing the Fire Lord's reaction once he returned to the Royal Palace in the Capital of their great country.

* * *

 **Ember Island, Fire Nation**

The messenger walked out to the courtyard to find the Princess and the children of Lin and Tenzin all gathered around a box they had found while exploring one of the forbidden quarters of the Fire Lord's house on Ember Island. It was filled with photographs of their parents when they were young.

"They look sooooo CUTE together!"

"Look Ursa! It's your mom making out with Aunt Kya!" Jiexue said, looking at one photo.

"WHAT?" Ursa snatched up the photo. "Well what do you know? I guess the rumors are true. They _did_ have a fling."

"Princess Ursa," the messenger said, stopping exactly five feet from the Princess. "I have a message from your mother. "She wants you all home."

Ursa thought for a moment, still with the incriminating photo of her mother in her hand. "Sweet. Hear that guys? Now I can show you what a REAL palace looks like!" Ursa said contently.

The packed up their belongings and a few souvenirs from Ember Island onto Sam and Pepper and flew to the Fire Nation Capital.

* * *

 _A/N  
Ages for the kids go as follows: _

_Iroh is 41, Takeo - 36, Rikuto - 34, Taemon - 33, Sasuke - 32, Tetsu and Tatsu 29, Ursa 26, Miyoko 18_

 _Linzin Kids: Hungjian - 25, Huifan - 24, Hungjian - 22, Jiexue 19, Xiaoyu - 17, Kang - 16, Jinora - 15, Ikki - 12, Meelo - 10, Rohan - 5_

 _Sutar Kids: Baatar Jr. - 27, Huan - 24, Opal - 22, Wing and Wei - 21_


	33. 2,3: Confrontations

**Chapter 3: Confrontations**

* * *

 **Royal Palace, Fire Nation Capital**

The children all assembled in the throne room with their various 'handlers.' The trough in front of the throne was void of any fire but the room still shone bright since the skylight had been opened.

While Tetsuya and Taemon leaned against a pillar, Tatsuya juggled a yo-yo he stole from a young Earth Kingdom boy on his travels. Across from them, Takeo and Sasuke were listening to Rikuto tell them of one of the wild adventures Grandma Toph had sent him on, including a fairly recent one to liberate a nearby village from some bandits.

"Isn't Aunt Su supposed to handle those things since she is kind of the Earth Queen now?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, but Aunt Su also has Ba Sing Se to patch up, a nation's infrastructure to rebuild, and a republic to single-handedly create thanks to the idiot Prince Wu," Rikuto replied.

"That douche is a disgrace to the name of royalty," Sasuke muttered.

"Ey! So am I most days, dear little brother!" Rikuto replied, playfully elbowing his stiff lawyer of a brother in the arm.

"You're not royalty, you're a bastard. We're all bastards. We can do what we want without repercussions and if that's living naked in a swamp, so be it. Nobody cares about us," Sasuke replied bluntly.

"That's not true! Mother cares about us!" Rikuto replied.

Takeo laughed while Sasuke smiled and rolled his eyes. "I suppose she does."

"Speaking of your mother, where is she?" Taemon asked with his arms folded, and a bored expression on his face.

"Right here, sorry," Izumi announced rushing into the throne room followed by Masaru, a half dozen guards and a member of the Amber League in civilian clothing at the front. "I got held up by the Minister of Foreign affairs. Great! You're all here- Wait! Where is Yoko?"

"I'm afraid your youngest has an exam this Friday and refused to come," her handler, Rinjuk said with a low bow.

"Spirits! Don't feel bad, Rinjuk. She is just such a stubborn girl," Izumi turned to Masaru. "She must have inherited that from your mother, Saru!" Izumi turned back to the children. "Well, now that you're all here, we just wanted to make an announcement. Not this Saturday, but next, your father and I will be getting married. We're tired of hiding our relationship in the shadows."

Sasuke and Takeo smiled. Rikuto clapped his hands. "That's wonderful!"

"But that is not the only thing. We've always intended to legitimize you all once I became Fire Lord but fate had other plans and we never got around it until now. I wanted to also inform you that your relationship to me will be announced at the end of the wedding, so that you have time to… prepare for whatever will come. Backlash is to be expected, but hopefully it will be mostly aimed at me. I know you did not choose to end up in such a precarious situation, but-"

"Mother, don't worry. We can handle it. We're not children anymore. And we all know how to navigate the our country," Takeo reassured Izumi reaching out to take her hands.

"I know, and I thank you," Izumi said squeezing his hands lightly.

"Wait, is there anything else happening, besides you getting married and us getting legitimized? Could we have come just for the wedding, Mother? And er… coronation or whatever is happening after? Forgive me, but I am currently in the middle of several rather important cases and was informed the matter was urgent," Sauke asked.

"Well, in a way it is still urgent. You can still work from here. We can set up an office. But I would also like for you to spend at least a little time getting to know your extended family. Everyone will be here soon and." Izumi added.

" _Everyone_?" Tatsuya asked glancing at Tetsuya.

"Like- Iroh and Ursa as well?" Rikuto asked.

"Well, we already know Iroh," Takeo said.

"Yes, _everyone_. Your father's side included. Cousins, aunts, uncles... Lin and Tenzin are already here, but they're exploring the capital at the moment and their children should be arriving with Ursa shortly from Ember Island. And, since your father's youngest sister Suyin is Earth Queen, and one of you will most likely be ruling the Fire Nation some day, I thought it could also be in your best interest to try to develop some sort of relationships with your cousins," Izumi added.

Taemon glanced at the twins.

"One of _us_ will be ruling?" Rikuto asked with confusion. "Not Iroh or Ursa?"

"It would appear that neither of them want the throne, and I will not be one to force them to take it," Izumi explained.

"So you don't want to force either of them to become fire lord but you want to force all of us to become legitimate royals?" Sasuke asked wondering why they got the choice but not him.

"What's wrong with becoming royal? It's not as much responsibility as—" Izumi asked.

"But what if some of us don't want the negative attention that will certainly result from being exposed as fruits of your extramarital affairs?" Sasuke asked. "Will you force that burden upon us to bear?"

Izumi turned to Masaru. She should have anticipated at least Sasuke's reluctance. The attention would certainly damage the law firm the lad had spent the last decade building.

"Why wouldn't you want to be legitimized?" Rikuto asked. "Are you really that ashamed of our parents for simply loving each other? Besides, what backlash could there be? The Fire Nation should be happy that their Fire Lord hasn't just been preaching, but practicing the act or spreading love and not war for decades! So what if they weren't married then? Hisoki was GONE and Mother was FREE!"

"So that is it than? We are reduced to symbols of her benevolence?" Sasuke asked, offended.

"No! That's not what I meant-" Rikuto protested.

"Sasuke, if you don't want to be acknowledged publicly as my son, then I won't acknowledge you, and I am sorry, I should have consulted you first. Just know that being a Fire Nation royal is not as bad as it used to be. The Fire Sages have no more influence over palace activities, and the duties of the family has changed," Izumi said.

"I'll consider my position. Is that all then, Mother?" Sasuke asked with mild impatience.

"For now," Izumi answered.

"In that case, I'm would like an office if that is possible, so I could resume my work," Sasuke asked.

"You can have anything," Izumi said. The palace is your secondary home now." She turned to a guard who bowed and led Sasuke away to tell the appropriate person of his request.

"I'll head over to the base in the city and see if there's any way I could be of use there," Takeo informed his family.

"I'll be in the library," Tetsuya announced.

"I'll go to the sparring rooms or the old Agni Kai chamber and bring some guards to spar I find any brave enough to face me," Tatsuya added with a devious grin.

Izumi sighed. "You always did like fighting."

"I need to speak with Tetsu," Taemon said following the more subdued of the twins.

"I'll go... exploring. It's been so long since I have been home!" Rikuto said running off. "I wonder how much has changed!"

"Have fun, love," Izumi called after the last. She turned then to Masaru. "So what are you going to do then?"

"Like Sasuke, I have a company to run." Masaru said pecking Izumi quickly on the lips. "But don't worry. I took next week off."

"Did I fail miserably just now?"

"No, I think you did rather well, your hair didn't streak-"

"I mean with the children. I hope I didn't hurt them in any way?"

"Izumi, you're a mother. Nothing you do with your children will ever be 'right' but you can't help that. Nobody likes change, and this is a big thing. They just need time. Sasuke will come around, don't worry."

"I know he will, but now I'm more worried about Yoko."

"Riiiight… There's still Yoko…" Masaru sighed.

"The girl will hate me forever."

"She won't hate you. Just give her a choice in the matter. And be honest."

Izumi turned to one of the metalbending guards. "Tadashi, will you accompany me to the university? I need to speak with my stubborn daughter."

"My Lord, are you sure you want to do this? The University District probably wouldn't be very safe at the time being with the students constantly prote-Yes, My Lord," the guard said, following her.

* * *

 **Ranshao Rikai University, Fire Nation Capital**

In the Satomobile ride over, Izumi took off her crown, stowed away her glasses, and put in contacts, a new invention that only the wealthy could really afford, and pulled on a cloak to cover her Fire Lord Robes. Walking across the campus to the student housing areas was easy. Students must have simply assumed she was a professor walking to class or something. Nobody gave her more than a glance as she passed.

Getting into the resident halls would have been a bit trickier had Izumi been alone, since they required a key that only residents of those particular building carried. That is where Tadashi came in handy. He was a metalbender, and could open the doors easily without melting off the entire mechanism.

They rode the lift to the top floor of the girls only building and walked to Miyoko's dorm room at the end of the hall. Tadashi opened the door, without knocking, and let the Fire Lord in, closing the door behind her.

Miyoko kept writing, ignoring her mother.

Izumi waited but received no response.

"You've defied the orders of the Fire Lord," Izumi stated after a long moment of silence.

"And yet I'm still breathing," the girl replied, unfazed.

"Miyoko, such an act of defiance could result in exile or death," Izumi warned.

Miyoko laughed. "Doesn't that sound remarkably like how the Great Uniter treated her citizens in the Earth Kingdom not too long ago?"

Izumi frowned and Miyoko finally turned away from her desk to face her mother.

"We learned about it in 'World History 99AG to Present', last Friday," she said with a smile.

"Maybe I was wrong for allowing you to attend university," Izumi mused as she sat down on her daughter's bed.

"You wouldn't have been able to stop me from coming. Grandfather Zuko made sure that no such totalitarian rule was possible after his ascension. People only obey you out of tradition, but it is not required... Tradition, and the fact that the royal family has dragons again. You've tried to establish a peaceful rule, and you've succeeded to an extent, but the people still fear you."

"Are you through being demeaning?" Izumi asked, looking down at her hands folded tidily over her knees.

"I suppose," Miyoko shrugged. "Why did you call for me, Mother?"

Even in the company of just her youngest daughter, the Fire Lord sat erect with no less than perfect posture. Decades of grueling conditioning made it nearly impossible for her to do otherwise. "I wanted you to meet your family. Your _whole_ family. And then... after the wedding... I was hoping to legitimize you and your siblings." Izumi said. "If it is something you're willing to consent to…" She paused, waiting patiently for a reaction. Yoko never raged, and to Izumi, that was the most dangerous type of girl since you couldn't predict her feelings.

"I won't," Miyoko said finally, turning back to her desk.

"Why?" Izumi found herself standing again. "You will become a Princess of the Fire Nation- times have changed! I won't make you marry! You would still have full reign over your life! You would be free from-"

"See, that's where you're wrong, mother," Miyoko interrupted her quietly.

"Elaborate please," Izumi asked.

"You _think_ that absolute power gives you freedom but it doesn't. It is the most restricting construct in the world. I've enjoyed being a bastard of a nobleman. I've enjoyed having nobody think I will amount to anything. The lack of expectations has been refreshing. I have found it is so much more satisfying to fight and triumph, and bring praise and admiration to my mysterious family than to have to constantly agonize over if any word that I've said or will say or action I have taken or will take will cause irreparable damage to my reputation, my dynasty, or my nation. I like not having that pressure or pain."

"You worry about causing irreparable damage to your dynasty? You forget Sozin, Azulon, Ozai, even Aunt Azula is part of that. You can cause no damage in your capacity, Yoko. Trust me."

"Then shame on the era that Grandfather Zuko has begun."

Izumi sighed. Yoko was right. Izumi had no freedom even with absolute power. Even around only family Izumi found herself agonizing over every choice of word and every decision. Her parents had instilled a sense of necessity for perfection in her because they had to set the standard for a family in the new Fire Nation after a century of war and bloodshed. They had to prove their worth. Izumi had been raised to sacrifice her own life and happiness for the better of the family and it hurt. "I had just hoped that you would have wanted—"

"Did _you_ really ever enjoy being a young royal?"

"No-"

"Then why would I?"

"I thought since I have made changes, like stripping the Fire Sages of all authority within the Palace and changing the requirements for the Princes and Princesses going forward, things will be better for you and—"

"While I do appreciate most of the progressive policies you've put through, it is still not enough. My reluctance is not meant to be a slight against you personally, Mother. I am happy for you and Father to be getting married but— I guess what I am trying to say is, I enjoy being _normal_. I don't need a title to know who I am. I am Miyoko, daughter of Fire Lord Izumi and the businessman Masaru Lee. I am a royal bastard, but I don't mind it because I know I was a comfort to my mother in some of her darkest times and in that way I serve my country. This new title you wish to bestow upon me is not necessary and would only bring about more inconveniences than benefits for the whole family."

Miyoko watched her mother. Izumi was crushed but wouldn't dare show it. Such emotions were simply evidence of weakness unfit for a Fire Lord. Miyoko got out of her seat and knelt before her mother and took her hands.

"I may protest your reign and I may disobey, even despise the Fire Lord, but I will never stop loving my mother," Miyoko said leaning on the Fire Lord's knees and placing her head in the woman's lap. Izumi tucked a lock of hair behind her daughter's ear and stroked her smooth, youthful cheek. "I love you and want to protect your reputation too."

"You're like your father was when were first dating. He wouldn't touch me even if I ordered him to for the sake of my own reputation. At this point, Yoko, I don't care for it anymore, honestly. I'm old and just want to just be with my family and be happy."

"I understand. But I also know your devotion to your nation is too great to allow such a thing to happen so smoothly."

After a long and peaceful pause, Izumi spoke again as she stroked her youngest child's head.

"Miyoko, after you graduate, or even before, would you like to become an informant for the Amber League?" Izumi asked.

Miyoko laughed, knowing the question would come eventually. Tetsuya had been quick to join the elite league. He did greatly enjoy spying on people and things and organizing and analyzing information. Miyoko was different. Though she loved organizing and analyzing information, and she loved people, she was not comfortable with prying as was sometimes necessary for informants of the Amber League. "I would be betraying my current affiliation. The Amber League is the public enemy number one for the Fire Students for Freedom and Equality."

"Then a classified informant? Nobody has to know Yoko. I only ask this because you are the **_only_** person in the entire Fire Nation who is **_always_** honest to me. You're the only one who can look me in the eye and tell me the truth about how you're feeling. You're right. Even my best men fear me. They always look at me like I would do something horrible to them if I didn't like what they say. Even though I was primarily trained by Aunt Azula in my youth, I'm not like her in any way!"

Miyoko laughed. "I've missed you, Mother," Miyoko said holding onto her mother's robes while she rubbed her hand in circles on the girl's back. "I always miss you," she added quietly, not wanting their time together to ever end.

"I've missed you even more, my little fire-breathing turtleduck," Izumi replied affectionately.

"I know as we grow older, we need you and Father less and less," Miyoko started, looking up at her mother. "But we still NEED you, Mother. Some random messenger with a private letter is not enough!"

"And I need you too. You're right, Yoko. You are an irreplaceable comfort to me and I've been so lost for days, weeks probably," Izumi said bending over her baby.

"I'll come Friday afternoon, after my last exam. I promise! Then it will be spring break, so I won't be skipping any classes to be with family," Miyoko said.

"Okay, my love. I appreciate it!" Izumi said, kissing her head.

After only a few more seconds of tenderness, Miyoko was standing again. "Okay, now. Fun is over! I need to figure out my position on... or just _a_ position on whatever the hell was happening between the Water Tribes four years ago right before the portals were opened and-,"

"I'm out!" Izumi said, playfully darting for the door.

"MOTHER!" Miyoko called with a smirk, furrowing her brows in amusement.

"You know my position on that entire theatrical performance-" Izumi said, pausing at the door to look back at her daughter.

"Yes, yes, we've heard 'it's all Korra's fault,'" Miyoko groaned with a smile.

Izumi walked back over to her daughter and cupped her face in her hands. "But just because I hate her doesn't mean you have to!"

"I know, I know. You remind me ALL THE TIME!" Miyoko groaned rolling her eyes.

"That's right!" Izumi said. "And that's why the Avatars in the past didn't even BEGIN training their second element until they were sixteen and could understand and appreciate what that amount of power and responsibility meant."

"Again! You're being restricting!"

"I'm sorry, my love. Don't forget to keep a more open mind than me!" Izumi yelled as she walked with her guard down the hall. Tadashi handed Izumi her lightweight traveling coat to cover her royal robes. She also debated letting her hair down as well as they exited the dormitories.

* * *

Izumi liked walking around the university on the rare occasions that she visited. It was such an interesting place. It was diverse, but also dangerous. The university was the home of so many protests and uprisings. Riots were practically weekly. Some riots were between fans of different sports teams, some were between different factions of students high on cactus juice, and some were between law enforcement and the political opposition.

"Did you see Varrick's new mover?" One student asked a friend.

"OMG, yes! Nuktuk is SOOOO hot!" the friend declared amiably. "Just a photograph of him could keep me warm in the North Pole!"

Izumi laughed quietly to herself at the sound of that.

"Did you hear Professor Jojo is FINALLY retiring?" another student asked a little ways away.

"Flameo! I swear that guy is older than Avatar Kyoshi when she died!"

"Good riddance! His lectures bored me to death!"

"I once tripped the fire alarm with my bending just to save everyone from another one of his horrible speeches!"

"Nice one!"

Izumi smiled. Their attitude to the old timer reminded her so much about how she felt during her lessons with Della as a child. She was surprised she never thought of tripping the fire alarms, or the intruder alarms, or even just tripped Della on her way to wack Izumi again for showing any imperfections. The woman was very near a thousand years old and could barely see and made Izumi read every history and dictate detailed descriptions of everything she was doing to ensure maximum retention. It was dreadfully boring. Only then, Izumi didn't have anyone to vent her frustration to like these students. She had Saru in the palace, but he couldn't really relate to living with her expectations, and she had Kya overseas, but they always preferred talking about much more pleasant things when they were together.

"Finally! The _League_ has accepted me! I'm going to learn earthbending at the new facility!" a student said to his friend.

"Earthbending? But you're a firebender!" the friend replied.

"But I took a test and have the _potential_ to _cross-over_!" the first student replied.

"In that case, congratulations!" the friend said clapping his buddy on the back.

 _Interesting._ Izumi didn't think such a thing was possible, but it wouldn't hurt to let the kids dream, even if it were about something so impossible as dual bending.

"The Fire Lord won't stand a chance against us once everyone becomes a master," the student said to his buddy.

At that, Izumi froze in her place.

"My Lord," Tadashi whispered. "We need to get you back to the palace. The University is not safe for you to be wandering-"

"I need to know what this kid is up to!"

"We can send scouts after him once you're back to the Palace _safely_!"

"You don't understand! He could be gone- en route to this- academy by the time we get men out here! I can't take that chance!" Izumi decide, turning on the boys.

"My Lord," Tadashi said attempting to hold her back. Izumi raised the only sharp metal thing she had on her as hard as she could in the direction of the whispering student, pinning both of his wrists to the stone statue he stood under with the single object.

The student gasped and dropped his paper, looking wide-eyed at what fixed him to the statue. It was… a crown… THE CROWN of the FIRE LORD! The student looked up at the direction from which it came to see the Fire Lord herself with her hood down, striding towards him.

"Please! Fire Lord Izumi! It is not at all what it seems!" the boy cried, disintegrating into a blithering mess by the time she was within arms length of him. His friend nervously looking between them wondering if it would be worth it to try to flee the confrontation.

Izumi bent down and picked the letter up off the ground, reading it in its entirety in only a few seconds. She pulled her crown out of his sleeves and returned the letter. "I am going to ask you one question, Keji Takama," Izumi said. "And I want you to answer me with complete honesty."

"Are you going to kill me?" the boy asked visibly trembling.

Izumi rolled her eyes. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so already," she replied with frustration. "I am not Sozin. I am not Azulon or Ozai. I am not even Zuko. I am Izumi, yet everyone seems to still forget that. I want to know and understand why you so desperately want or need that has you thinking that training such an impossible thing and trying to overthrow me could possible be something worth pursuing."

"I- uh…" the student stuttered.

"Let me help you," Izumi offered. "Is your family alive?"

"Yes."

"Are they starving?"

"No."

"Are you starving?"

"No."

"Do you have siblings?"

"Yes."

"Do they have a place to sleep at night? A home with heating and lockable windows and a roof that doesn't leak?"

"Yes."

"Can they still produce laughter and tears? They are still capable of feeling?"

"Yes."

"Have you or any of them been drafted into my army?"

"No."

"Then tell me what else it is that you want so I can grant it and satisfy whatever other needs you have," Izumi ordered.

"You're serious, My Lord?" Tadashi asked nervously.

"Question my judgement one more time and you'll be demoted to messenger, Tadashi," Izumi threatened.

"I want freedom, My Lord! TRUE FREEDOM!" Keji cried.

Izumi looked down at his feet and raised a brow. "I see no chains around your ankles and wrists," She said waving to his loose limbs. "I took this back," she said raising the crown for him and his friend to see shining in the sunlight. "You choose what you eat, what you study. You choose to join secret organizations that are plotting against me. What more is needed to prove your freedom. I am genuinely interested and am begging you to speak freely."

The boy seemed genuinely petrified for some strange reason.

"My Lord, a crowd is beginning to gather," Tadashi warned Izumi.

"Let them," Izumi ordered. "Maybe one of them will have enough courage to answer my question. In what way are you lacking freedom?" She asked the growing crowd. "If you do indeed feel the same way." There was no response. She turned to the boy.

"If I promise to burn the image of this letter from my mind, burn the memory of your spoken words about me 'not standing a chance' against whatever this is, and pardon you for your treasonous actions, will you be brave able to answer my question freely knowing that your life, as you know it, is perfectly safe?" Izumi asked.

The boy said nothing.

"Tadashi, would you mind making a chair for me?" Izumi asked her guard. "I would like to wait for the boy."

Her guard earthbend a block out of the ground and she sat, resting her chin on her knee.

"We will wait until your next class starts."

"I—"

"Tadashi, will you go ask Yoko why her classmates are so frightened of me?"

"And leave you here, alone?"

"Do you take me for being weak?" Izumi asked turning away.

"No, My Lord," her guard said quickly pushing himself through the crowd and sprinting back to the dormitory.

Izumi waited with her legs folded and her hands closed over her crown on her knee. She wasn't wearing it.

 _What did the students want?_ She thought. _What was this League? Just League? And this academy this student was so excited to attend? He was at the most prestigious institute in the Fire Nation. Why would he want to transfer anywhere else? What was he lacking?_

The students were just staring.

"Daddy, I can't see!" a tiny voice said. A man put his child on his shoulder and the little girl gasped.

"Fire lord Izumi!" the child shrieked wiggling out of her father's hands running through legs to get to her.

"Shoko! Don't—" the man yelled fearing the consequences of disrespecting the sovereign of their country. The child practically leapt into Izumi's arms. Izumi caught her.

"It's true!" the little girl squealed kneeling on Izumi's lap, looking up at her face with wide, innocent eyes.

Izumi laughed. "What's true?"

"You have glasses too!" the girl said indicating the ones on her own face.

"How can you tell? She's not wearing them!" a student asked.

The little girl peeled Izumi's eyelid up. "I can see the new jelly thingy that replaces glasses!" the child answered while her father chewed on his teeth anxiously.

"Yes. You are correct, and very observant," Izumi replied removing the child's hand from her face.

"How old were you when you got them?" the girl asked.

"Forty-"

The girl gasped. "Does this mean I am forty now? Does it mean I've aged faster? Will I die young too?"

"No no no no! Everybody's eyesight is different, just how everybody's height and weight is different. Everybody's hair color…. Etcetera. There is nothing wrong with needing glasses."

"But glasses are different. Nobody else in my nursery group has glasses!"

"Everybody is different. But it is our differences that make us the same. We all have differences and insecurities and can relate to one another because of it." Izumi said.

The child's mind seemed blown.

"Shoko! Please get off the Fire Lord's lap,"

"But she's warm! Like Mommy!" the child said wrapping her hands around the Fire Lord's neck. Izumi looked down at the girl with uncertainty.

"You're not supposed to touch the Fire Lord," the father said to the child.

"Says who?" the child asked defiantly clinging to Izumi.

Izumi looked up at the father too, genuinely curious. She never read such a thing in her etiquette manual when she was a princess in training. This incident was the most interaction she'd had in a while with commoners and found it all rather intriguing.

"Says— says—"

"Says tradition only," Izumi answered softly. The child slid off and looked at her.

"Oh. I'm sorry," The girl said bowing respectfully. Izumi reached out and put her hands on the child's shoulders and stood up. The girl looked up in awe.

"Don't apologize, Shoko. A tradition is not a law. Times change. The old Fire Lords before my father may have viewed your proximity as a threat. They may have even hurt you after hearing about the incident,but I am not like them, Shoko. I am not afraid of a child who simply became excited about finding someone else who shared a need to wear glasses every day. We are equals. It may not seem like it but we are all connected as one flesh and bone all living and breathing together."

"Really?"

"Mhm," Izumi said.

The girl turned to her father positively beaming again.

"Do not think this a victory, Fire Lord Izumi," a booming voice demanded behind Izumi. The Fire Lord spun on her earthen stool to come face to face with what appeared to be an upperclassmen around Ursa's age. Beside him, Miyoko stood glaring. Izumi pretended to not recognize her for her safety. "You may be able to win the heart of a child with ease, but we are not so naive."

"And who are you?" Izumi asked.

"My name is Ikta Soren. I am president of the Fire Students for Freedom National Organization and a graduate student of political science and—"

"Politics isn't a science. It is a philosophy."

"That is not true-"

"Science is logical and predictable. There are basic laws that explain and dictate everything in the field. Politics is more like a flame," Izumi said lifting her hand and showing them blue fire. "It is dynamic but can also be wild, volatile, frightening, dangerous, and can also change and be tamed."

"We didn't come to hear your thoughts on the university's probably faulty naming convention for the degrees it issues. We came to voice our opinions on your reign."

"That's wonderful! I am genuinely excited to hear. I would love to know why you are so dissatisfied that you feel the need to **_warp_** information you put on your posters so badly that even my own informants censor their reports to me," Izumi sighed.

"We want your informants gone. We want to end the Amber League."

"Why?"

"So we don't want to have to censor ourselves when we're out having tea. We want to be able to speak clearly anywhere in our Nation."

"Then speak clearly. I don't understand why you are under the impression that with the Amber League existing, you can't. If you've done nothing wrong, what have you to hide. Say whatever you want! Honestly. The Amber League doesn't have time nor resources to bother themselves with a bunch of students' small talk over tea. It does care which regions are still starving, why there are more orphans on one island and not another, if the children of a certain region are not receiving the education they need, if women feel safe walking home in the evenings and other issues of much greater importance than which professor you think is boring... You seem to overestimate your individual importance to this my secret police, Ikta Soren."

"That's where you're wrong. This is not simply a matter of whether or not the Amber League has good intentions in our society. It is a matter of how it uses its intentions to justify inappropriately prying into the lives of the common man and invading one's privacy."

"Privacy?" Izumi laughed. "What do you possibly know of privacy that could lead you to believe that something as mundane as eavesdropping over a teaside conversation qualifies as being prying? Nothing. You don't know the definition in invading. Tell me, Ikta? What do you think it's like to bleed for the first time and be told you could NEVER play with your two best friends unsupervised ever again? What do you think it's like to not be allowed to go to the bathroom unaccompanied. What do you think it's like to have the conception of your first child to be SUPERVISED by all five Fire Sages and both yours and your spouse's parents to ensure the conceived child's legitimacy? Don't dare lecture me about privacy. Is there anything else you'd like to tell me while I'm here?"

"Make love not war."

"When have I sent you to war?" Izumi asked.

"Your great great grandfather-"

Izumi exhaled fire. "—has been dead for over a century. He is not me. Now, I could have drafted you all to put an end to Kuvira's tyrannical reign over the Earth Kingdom but the Amber League informed me such an action would have been against your wishes. You like many wanted to abandon the Earth Kingdom in such a time of need. While I wanted to intervene, I took into consideration your opinion and adjusted my own position accordingly. My father and I have kept the Fire Nation out of war for three quarters of a century now. What else do you need?"

The man said nothing.

"Is there anything else anyone would like to share with me or ask of me?" Izumi asked turning her attention to the silent crowd?"

One student timidly raised her hand.

"Is it true you're remarrying next Saturday?" the female student asked.

 _I wonder where she heard that bit of gossip?_ "Yes. And I hope you will all be as accepting of my choices as you expect me to be of yours," Izumi added turning back the student with the letter from some League hellbent on overthrowing her, and then to the upper class man who headed the Fire Students for Freedom National Organization.

"My lord," Tadashi said offering his hand. She took it and stood, picking up the front of her robes with her crown still in her hand. Tadashi lowered the earthen stool and then they hurried away to their Satomobile.


	34. 2,4: Bridges We Burn

**Chapter 4: Bridges We Burn**

* * *

 **The Parlor**

Izumi came back to find her fiancé, his sister and her best friend, and brother-in-law waiting for her.

"Nice show today, Zumzu," Lin muttered sarcastically with an afternoon issue paper in her hand.

 _Since when did information travel so quickly?_ Izumi thought to herself undoing her topknot and running her fingers through her graying hair.

"Not how I would have announced our wedding," Masaru commented.

"Well sorry. I didn't really have a choice. I was asked a direct question and couldn't lie," Izumi replied, passing them.

"What happened to all that training Azula gave you back into the day specifically to teach you to lie?" Masaru asked, following her.

"It's GONE, okay?!" she yelled whirling on him. He stepped back with his arms up in surrender.

"Izumi, maybe you're not in a state where you should be engaging with the public or making decisions right now," Lin suggested.

"I'll decide that!" Izumi yelled storming off.

Lin followed suit. "Zumi listen up! I don't care if you're the fucking Fire Lord or not. You are my friend and will be my sister soon and I simply cannot not allow you to let your grip on yourself to spiral out of control."

* * *

 **In the Bath**

When Masaru returned to the room that night, none of the candles in the chandelier or the torches on the wall were lit. _Where is she?_ He thought of his fiancée. Then he saw blue light emanating through the crack under the door to the bathroom. Fire. HER fire. Masaru threw the door open to find Izumi in the bathtub. She gasped when she heard the intrusion and a half dozen or so flaming dragons woke from their slumber and snarled at him.

"It's alright, guys! Saru won't hurt me, you know that," Izumi said to the flaming creatures. The dragons went back down.

"Izumi, I thought we agreed that you weren't going to let your inner fire come out. It's too dangerous!"

"Actually, I've been doing some reading here and in the spirit world, and I learned that it isn't. It actually feels nice to let out sometimes. It is pent up energy. I've discovered several dragons inside of me. That one's Fear," she said pointing at the largest dragon curled up and partially hanging over the edge of a shelf by some gnarly looking candles that looked like they had been mauled by the heat radiating from the dragon for a while now. "That one's Hunger..." she said pointing at the small one on the chair sitting on her clothes. "that one's Hurt, she said pointing another rather large dragon on the bath rug. "that one is the mommy..." she added pointing at a medium sized dragon by the second. "that one's Heart," she said pointing at another rather large dragon that was curled around the bathtub and acting as a headrest and matching her blazing blue hair, "there should also be Happiness but he has been missing as of late. I think Fear and Hurt have been stealing his food," Izumi said pensively as if these fiery dragons were her pets and she were worried about them.

"Izumi, your inner fire... it's not actually firebending is it?" Masaru asked.

Izumi turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?" Izumi replied..

"You don't have to move to move them. They're not actually fire. They're your energy. They're you, Izumi. And you've been letting Fear and Hurt consume your energy."

Fear and Hurt both started glowing and growling at Masaru as Izumi considered his words, her own brows furrowing.

"You could be right," she said finally and both Fear and Hurt subsided.

Masaru put his hand on the back of the chair and looked down at the scrawny little thing Izumi called Hunger. "May I sit?" he asked.

Hunger eyed him wearily then slid off the chair and made his way into the bathtub and floated on his back in the water in front of Izumi, warming the water, but not extinguishing.

"What are your greatest fears, Masaru?" Izumi asked looking over at him.

"Greatest fears?" He thought looking at her. "Is seeing your Hurt and Fear becoming too much for you to bear, and it consuming you," Masaru said pointing at the two largest dragons.

"Have you ever tried releasing your inner fire?" Izumi asked.

"I don't know. I'm not really sure what that means or what exactly I'm looking for."

"I think I understand it now. I can try to walk you through," Izumi said with her eyes closed and her head leaning against Heart's body.

"Alright," Masaru said getting comfortable on the chair.

"First, it is not something you look for… it is just something you… feel," Izumi said. "Close your eyes now. Use all of your senses to search inside yourself for something that you're not sure you can handle."

"Can you be a little more descriptive?"

"Truth, Saru. Search for truth."

"Truth?"

"What you are, Masaru, as a man, as a bender, as a father...as a son."

 _"Saru! No!" a vaguely familiar voice screamed. Saru turned and he saw a woman with long bangs hanging down in her face, unseeing eyes gazing blankly, but arms reaching for him as he walked forward, into fire._

 _"Mama-" baby Saru said looking down at his hands._

 _"Look!" He pointed two open palms at the woman and saw red and orange cloud his vision. And he heard screaming._

 _"TOPH!" an even more distant voice yelled coming closer._

 _"He burned me!" the woman cried clutching her hands to her chest._

 _"The little monster burned me!"_

 _"He's not a monster, he's our son. And he just needs a teacher, that's all. Nothing to worry about. We're all new at this thing. Cut him some slack," the man said as he dipped his wife's hands under the tap and fetched ice from the ice box._

 _"Mama?" Baby Saru asked waddling up to her side._

 _The woman turned to him again and beckoned small stones to her hand. She took one of baby Saru's hands and covered it in rock then did the same with the other._

 _"For all of our safety," she said kissing him on the head and walking away._

 _The man frowned. "Take this and go pick your toes or something," he said handing her a bag of ice. He then picked up baby Saru and adjusted the glasses on his face. "Come on, Saru. Let's free you of these bindings, shall we? Don't worry about Mommy. She's had a— difficult history with fire and… well… seeing it— not seeing it, but feeling it, brings back some painful memories. You're not a monster. You're just… learning. The solution is not to muzzle you but to give you a distraction until we can find a teacher, eh? How would you like that?" the man asked, getting a chisel and a mallet to gently jack away at his firebending son's earth gauntlets. "How do you like drawing?" He asked showing the boy some designs for a new machine._

 _Baby Saru shrugged and moments later heard his father screaming!_

 _"SARU NO! You're destroying the blueprints— you're destroying everything!" the man yelled. Baby Saru looked down at where his hand was resting on the desk. In thinking about the events earlier that day, he had begun subconsciously bending again, years of his father's work gone in seconds because of his uncontrolled flame._

* * *

 _"If only he were an earthbender!" the woman yelled at her husband that night._

 _"Well face it! He's not an earthbender, but he's still our son and we still need to find him a teacher."_

 _"But I don't want just any teacher. I want him to be the best at what he does!" the mother replied._

 _"He can change masters later to become the best, but in the meantime we need to work with what we've got. We can't keep waiting!" the man yelled._

 _"I thought you were going to 'distract' him from firebending!"_

 _"He has no interest in arithmetic and drawing!"_

 _"Not my problem!"_

 _"Toph!"_

 _Baby Saru ran. He ran as fast as his tiny feet could carry him into the village to some merchant closing his shop for the night._

 _"Do you know how to write?" Baby Saru inquired.  
_

 _"Yes," the merchant replied_

 _"I need you to write a letter for me."_

 _"I guess I could help."_

 _"Great!"_

 _Saru sat down with the merchant in his stand._

 _"Dear Dad and Mom…"_

 _The merchant wrote._

 _"I'm leaving. Love, Saru—,"_

 _"Wait! Kid! I can't write something like this!"_

 _"But you said you'd help!" Baby Saru yelled feeling slighted._

 _"But I ain't helping you run away!"_

 _Baby Saru became angry. SOOOOOO angry! He turned and punched the wall, blasting fire from his tiny fist and setting the entire place ablaze._

 _"Kid! What are you doing?!" the merchant yelled.  
_

 _"I told you! I need to leave! I'm dangerous and need to find a teacher to teach me how to control this thing! You have to help me!" Baby Saru begged._

 _The merchant finished the short letter and handed it back to the boy._

 _"Thank you!" Baby Saru said flying out the door, extinguishing the flames as he left leaving black burn marks on the walls._

 _He placed the note on his bed and dipped his hand in ink and stamped it and fled._

Masaru slowed his breathing. He could feel his temperature going up and wondered if it was working.

 _Baby Saru looked up at the signs. Domestic. International. He would find no fire in the Earth Kingdom, he thought so he went to international._

 _UNITED REPUBLIC_

 _SOUTHERN WATER TRIBE_

 _NORTHERN WATER TRIBE_

 _FIRE NATION_

 _"Bingo!" Baby Saru thought racing over to the Fire Nation terminal, sneaking onto the ship by hiding between people's legs and luggage._

 _"Someone in the Fire nation must be able to teach me firebending! Then I won't hurt Mom..._

"Saru!" Izumi exclaimed. Masaru opened his eyes. And saw a little red dragon at his feet peering up at him, ready to make friends... or... enemies? Masaru couldn't tell, but the dragon looked angry. The little red dragon took in its surroundings then multiplied into five. Fear was small, Hunger, a waif like thing, Father not as large as Masaru thought it should be, then no, Hurt was not a fitting name. Regret, Saru decided to call it. Regret was surprisingly large. It came up to his knee and looked to be about twelve feet long. Heart seemed missing, as well as happiness.

"Saru, behind you," Izumi said sitting up in the bath.

Masaru turned. Coming up to his waist and wrapping around the chair stood Heart. Saru recognized him by his warm and peaceful face. But behind him, something bigger and redder.

"You're not Happiness," Masaru said looking up at the largest of both of their dragons nearly filling the room.

It was Anger, and Anger was getting bigger.

"Saru! Saru what's happening?" Izumi asked standing up with her hands open in a defensive position as Saru's Anger locked its sight on her with its menacing teeth bared, and its nostrils flaring. As Masaru's Anger grew bigger, so did Izumi's Fear.

"Don't touch her," Masaru yelled jumping between them, shielding her naked body from Anger.

Anger leapt towards them both. They closed their eyes but felt no fire. Instead they heard screeching and turned as Masaru's Anger attacked Izumi's Fear. They watched in awe as the flames tumbled off the shelf, knocking candles into the bath and splashing water onto the floor as they fought each other.

"Make it stop!" Izumi screamed, hiding her face in Masaru's chest. Just then, Hurt, Izumi's blue dragon on the rug joined the fight, nipping and tearing at Masaru's anger.

"Maybe... maybe not," Masaru thought as he looked at the three dragons fighting. He put a hand on Izumi's back. Her muscles were starting to loosen as the fight continued. Her shoulders relaxed and her face smoothed. He felt her heart steady then finally, an exhale of relief.

Masaru's anger turned to face him and stepped aside revealing Izumi's Fear and Hurt had been reduced to nothing more than candle flames. Anger shrunk down to the size of a tea cup and flew up to Masaru's shoulder and blinked at Izumi. Izumi sensed its change in energy, uncovered her face, and looked up at the tiny dragon. "You— you were fighting for me?" she asked, reaching a hand out to the small red flaming dragon.

It jumped onto her palm and bowed its head to her.

"How are you feeling?" Masaru asked combing his fingers through Izumi's blue hair.

"Lighter,," Izumi replied reaching up to touch his red. "As if a massive load has been lifted off my shoulders."

"I'm glad," Masaru said holding her, looking around at her blue dragons snuggled up against Masaru's red ones. There was the creaking of a door behind them. The linen closet slid open and a tiny blue dragon came out. Izumi stepped out of the tub and rushed to greet it, a warm smile on her face.

"Hey Happiness, how are you doing? Long time, no see, little miss," Izumi asked with a smile as she picked it up in her hand, stroking its flaming head with her index finger.

"How can we feed you?" Masaru asked, walking up beside Izumi and wrapping his arms tightly around her bare waist from behind.

Izumi leaned into him and the happiness glowed and grew slightly in her hands.

"You know, I never will get used to you having blue hair," he said, pushing the wet blue streaks away from her face.

"Nor will I become used to seeing your red," she replied, turning in his arms to touch his.

He turned to the mirror and laughed before turning back to her and coming down on her lips. "To quote your aunt: together, we will be the most powerful couple in the world. We will DOMINATE THE EARTH!" Masaru said lighting his hands on fire blowing back his red hair.

Izumi laughed. "But we wouldn't, would we?"

"Nah!" Masaru said waving away the thought and taking her in his arms again. "At least I wouldn't. I don't need the world under me to be happy, only you," he said, gently peeling her lower lip down to give himself access to the inside of her mouth. "How power-hungry are you, Zumi?"

"Not at all," Izumi replied untying his shirt and then belt.

He lifted her up and stepped between her legs eliciting a gasp. All of their dragons glowed and slowly backed away from the couple. Saru's Anger turned to Happiness and Izumi's Happiness grew a little bigger with every second that passed.


	35. 2,5: Someone New

**Chapter 5: Someone New**

* * *

 **The Fire Lord's Quarters  
**

Izumi burned her bedpost for the third time that morning as Iliana laced her corsets.

"You don't know how much I despise receiving foreign dignitaries," Izumi grumbled as her fingernails dug deeper into the charred cherry wood.

"You're not receiving a foreign dignitary, My Lord. You are receiving a Queen," Iliana reminded Izumi as she pulled long and hard on the laces at the waist.

"But the _Queen_ has always been like a little sister to me, and once I marry Masaru, she WILL be a little sister to me," Izumi replied, gasping for air. "Is this— really still necessary— especially—considering— our age?"

"It is not necessary as much as it is customary. You can't change everything during your reign, My Lord." Iliana replied gently. Izumi whimpered as Iliana pulled the laces straight up tightening the corset around the Fire Lord's rib cage crushing her torso before tying off the laces.

"For someone who is nearly eighty, you're still frighteningly strong," Izumi commented with a frown.

"I am Fire Nation, My Lord. **We** are strong," Iliana said with a smile. "Come on," Iliana said, holding up the Fire Lord's more formal robes with golden trim along the sleeves and skirts for Izumi to slip into. Iliana snapped the buttons at the throat closed, then folded the robes over and tied them closed under Izumi's right armpit and down her right side. Izumi turned as Iliana went to get her sash. She held up her long sleeves as the maid wrapped the golden sash around her waist tightly against the corset underneath.

Then Iliana picked up the Fire Lords shoulder ceremonial armor fitted with spikes over the shoulders. Izumi ducked into it and folded her cuffs back as Iliana ran a cleaning brush over everything to get any dust off of the gown before letting the Fire Lord leave.

"If it will make you feel better about wearing your ceremonial robes, I can fetch your knives. I know how they make you feel less helpless in times like these," Iliana offered.

Izumi smiled, and her kindly maid ran off to get them.

Armed with her knives, Izumi walked flanked by a dozen imperial guards to the throne room and up to her seat. She looked at the dark trough where she lit a wall of blue fire at least once a day, every day for the past seven years. Then she looked up at the ceiling as they closed the skylight, blocking the clouds from view.

"Father, you say fire comes from the breath, but how do you make fire when your breath has been taken away?" She asked herself as she placed her hand on her nearly completely disabled diaphragm for a moment trying to also still her spinning head. With a wave of both arms, she lit the trough with blue flames that ran the width of the room and sat down cross legged with only mild difficulty in her restricting robes.

"May we present to you the Earth Queen, Suyin Beifong of Zaofu and Gaoling?" the page asked.

"You may," Izumi said, seeing the doors open through the wall of blue flames.

The Earth Queen entered, flanked by two Dai Li Agents and followed by a half dozen metalbending guards from Zaofu in addition to a dozen Royal Earth Kingdom guards.

Izumi had a guard of three dozen imperial firebenders in front of her wall of fire, and two members of the Amber League hidden in her wall of blue flames.

"Fire Lord Izumi," Suyin said, bowing, her head touching the floor as her entire entourage followed suit.

"Earth Queen Suyin, rise," Izumi said stiffly.

Suyin stood.

"Now if you will, dismiss your guard from the room so that I may be rid of mine," Izumi ordered.

Suyin raised a hand and her entire Earth Kingdom entourage bowed and backed out of the throne room.

Once they all left, the Imperial guard split and marched out of the throne room at both sides. Izumi stood up and walked through her wall of fire and embraced the younger Beifong woman and current Earth Queen.

"I curse your new status, Suyin," Izumi informed the woman.

"Why?" Suyin laughed, embracing her old friend.

"Because they made me wear ceremonial robes to greet you since you're a Queen now!" Izumi whined. "It's not fair that I have to get all dolled up while you get to appear before me wearing the same peasant garb from Zaofu!"

Suyin scoffed and gave the Fire Lord a playful shove. "And they claim the _Earth_ is _rigid_ ," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Tell me about it," Izumi droned with a smile.

"So where have you locked up my brother and sister?"

"Your sister and her husband left to explore the Capital again hours ago. My agents should know where they are. You can ask any one of them. As for your brother, he's probably at Earthen Fire Headquarters here. He has two more days before he's free for the week leading up to the wedding."

"Do you need help with the set-up or planning?"

"Actually, I've had a change of heart about that. As much as I enjoyed the camaraderie of planning Lin and Tenzin's wedding, I didn't very much like the chaos. I have assigned a team will take care of the planning. Meanwhile, I've asked you all here early to trick you into taking a forced family vacation here in the Fire Nation," Izumi explained.

Suyin choked. "A family vacation? Why, may I ask? Is this a trap? Should I be worried about potential extermination?"

"Not slightly. I'll give you a hint. Lin's not the only one who keeps really…big secrets," Izumi said obscurely.

Suyin thought for a moment then shoved Izumi to the floor then encased her in entire body in rock.

"HOW MANY!" Suyin shrieked.

"Counting the adopted one or no?" Izumi asked from the ground.

"Counting!"

"Seven?" Izumi said closing her eyes.

Suyin released the Fire Lord and turned away, thinking.

"When Lin gets back, I'm killing you BOTH!" Suyin yelled, stomping her foot at the Fire Lord.

"Understandable," Izumi grunted blowing a lock of loose hair that came undone. "But how will you explain it to my Father?" Izumi asked, struggling to get up. Suyin rolled her eyes and took pity on the Fire Lord before propping her up with an earthen pillar.

"So," Suyin said as she watched Izumi dust off her robes manually.

"Iliana will be livid! She just cleaned them this morning!" Izumi muttered shaking the skirts.

Suyin rolled her eyes again and bent all of the dirt out the fabric. "There! Clean. Now, tell me about these babies!" Suyin said, looping her arm around the Fire Lord's.

Izumi smiled. "Well…" she took a breath and looked up with a smile. Suyin giggled. "Where do I begin?"

"With the first one, obviously!"

"Well, Takeo is a First Class General..." Izumi began.

"All good..." Suyin commented listening to her old friend reveal everything.

* * *

 **The Courtyard  
**

The two sky bison were cleared to land in the pastures where all of the royal family's animals were housed, fed, and trained.

"Stable master Tonkin says the last time there were Bison here were when Avatar Aang attended my mother's first wedding almost exactly forty one years ago!" Ursa said catching a bag as Huifan threw it off the back of Sam.

"And now there are THREE bison!" Ikki yelled referring to Pepper, Sam, and Oogi who had arrived a few days prior.

"And now there are three," Ursa said with a smile.

"Wait! So no airbender has come to the Fire Nation Royal Palace in 41 years?" Jinora asked, shocked.

"Nope. Well, none ever needed to come to the Palace to help with anything. Avatar Aang and Master Tenzin occasionally visited their favorite islands for vacation, but never once did they have to come to the Palace," Ursa answered.

"That's good. It means that your grandfather was doing well and from what I've heard, his rule was just," Jinkun commented.

"It was, and I am proud of him, but don't discredit my mom either. Even though grandfather officially abdicated in 167AG, Mother had been the de facto ruler since 150AG," Usa responded.

"Really? That is soooooo cool!" Jinora exclaimed.

"You know, your mother kiiiiiind of scared me for a long while, but the more I hear of her, the more I like her," Ikki confessed.

Ursa smiled. She initially found the child rather rude, and almost annoying on Ember Island, but her energy was growing on the princess slightly.

"Ikki! Don't tell people that! It's rude!" Jinora scolded.

"Speaking of mothers," Kang says pointing.

"Mom! Dad!" Xiaoyu flew off of Pepper and ran over to Lin and Tenzin as they strided over to the pair of bison and the group.

"You're safe!" Lin exclaimed, running towards Xiaoyu and scooping up Ikki and Jinora on her way.

"And you're dressed in Fire Nation clothes!" Huifan replied from atop Sam.

"The red suits you," Jiexue nodded, removing the reins from Sam's horns.

"It's safer that way," Lin replied, mussing Meelo's hair.

"Princess Ursa! So good to see you! Thank you for hosting our children Ember Island!" Tenzin said bowing to Ursa politely.

"The pleasure was all mine," Ursa said with a smirk, exchanging a deviously knowing glance with Huifan who helped her sneak into all of the formerly off-limits rooms with her metalbending so they could pry into their parents' past lives.

"What did you find?" Lin asked, not missing the shared glance between the two young women.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Aunt Lin!" Ursa lied while Huifan laughed.

"Don't worry, Lin. I'm sure all of your secrets are safe," a new voice said as Suyin appeared. "I had some Dai Li agents break in and extract anything on you or me that might be… incriminating, once I ascended the Earth Kingdom throne."

"Su, you're here! When did you arrive?" Lin asked, hugging her sister.

"This morning, but you and Baldy had already gone into town," Suyin replied, "So I have been meandering through the gardens waiting for someone interesting to come by when I felt two sky bison landing nearby."

"Have you seen my mother already? Is she busy?" Ursa asked eagerly.

"Unfortunately yes, my dear. She had a meeting with the Minister of Internal Affairs right after formally receiving me. I swear the customs here can get **_really_** annoying!" Suyin said.

"Tell me about it!" Ursa groaned, rolling her eyes with a smile.

"You know what I do when I get annoyed with protocol?" Suyin asked, draping an arm over the crown Princess of the Fire Nation.

"What?" Ursa asked.

"Say, FUCK IT! And do my own thing! You should try it sometimes!" Suyin encouraged, beaming.

"Su! You're going to get us all banished for corrupting the princess!" Lin scolded.

"I'm not _corrupting the princess_. I am teaching my soon-to-be-niece how to live a little and have a some fun," Suyin replied slyly.

"Aunt Su! Since you're here, does this mean Wing and Wei are too?" Hungjian asked excitedly from atop Sam.

"Yes! I believe they're exploring the Palace," Suyin answered.

"They're going to get lost," Ursa mumbled knowingly with mild concern.

"Hopefully their seismic sense is good enough for them to find their way back to something familiar," Suyin responded.

"If it isn't, we always have Huifan's range. I bet she could map the capital, and find them quickly enough," Ursa said with a wink to her friend.

"Yes, but I'm sure Huifan won't always be available to help find every lost soul in that Palace. To prevent that from becoming necessary, Ursa, dear, would you mind giving your soon-to-be cousins a tour of your home so they don't all have to always travel en mass? " Suyin asked the princess. "In the meantime, I need to have a word with Lin and Tenzin."

"Yes, of course!" Ursa said with a nod. "But first we have to finish unpacking."

Just then a team of Imperial Guards arrived near the stables led by Genkei.

"Princess Ursa, welcome home. Your mother would like me to ask that you go enjoy your time with family. We will take care of the luggage and the bison," Genkei said with a bow.

Ursa glanced at Huifan and then to the others. "Alright. Thanks, Genkei." Ursa said bowing to the man before waving her friends to follow.

* * *

 **The Fourth Floor Bathroom  
**

Deep in the heart of the residential quarter of the Fire Nation Palace, three metalbenders wrapped in red towels made their way through the halls, two of them dragging their reluctant older brother behind them.

"I heard there's a GIANT bathtub on the fourth floor!" Wing yelled as he and Wei dragged Huan up the stairs.

"Yeah with a hundred water spouts!"

"And rainbow water!"

"And fancy soaps!"

"I have no interest in rainbow water or fancy soaps. Why couldn't you just let me bathe in peace, in my assigned private quarters?" Huan groaned.

"Because! We're brothers! We couldn't let you waste a bath in such a kickass palace in a standard tub! Come on!" Wei said pulling harder. Huan rolled his eyes.

When they entered the bathroom they weren't alone. A man already sat at the far end of the tub up to his neck in bubbles with a butler bent down beside him holding a tray with tea.

"Oh, sorry. We'll come back later," Wei said turning away to leave the bathroom, blushing as the glimpse of the man's long black hair, pointed chin and striking Amber eyes remained in the font of his mind.

"Oh no, don't worry. Do join me, I wouldn't mind the company-" the man replied sipping his tea. "Are you guests of my mother?" he asked with a Fire Nation Accent that made Wei shiver.

"I'd answer, but we don't know your mother," Wing replied, yanking the red towel around his waist off with a flourish, stripping while Wei kept his back to the stranger to disrobe himself.

"We came with the Queen," Huan informed the stranger, unfazed by his presence.

"In that case, I should apprise you that my mother is the Fire Lord, and my father, your uncle," the man said. He transferred his alluring gaze to Wei who had turned to face him aghast, trying to find some sort of resemblance that would prove they could never be together. "Sorry to disappoint you, Wei is it?" Tetsuya asked with a smirk, his long black hair flowing around him in the water. Wei nearly choked.

"Oh? Did you have a crush on a cousin?" Wing asked jokingly punching his twin brother in the arm.

"I did not!" Wei replied shrilly, defensive in his tone.

Huan rolled his eyes.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of Wei. We do not get to choose whom we love. If we did, my mother would have saved everyone a headache and stayed with Hisoki Ibonara... and I would not be here," the man said placing his empty teacup on the butler's tray to take to refill.

"Wait so... who are you? Our mother told us we had seven new cousins but couldn't remember their names," Wing asked curiously.

"I don't blame her," the beautiful man shrugged. "We're not very memorable, not _yet_ at least. My name is Tetsuya. Tetsuya Lee." the man said draping his arms on the rim of the tub.

"Tetsuya," Wing tried rolling the name off of his tongue. "I like that! It's very dramatic!"

"And how do you know our names?" Wei asked suddenly, his emotions filled with suspicion. "Even our mother sometimes doesn't know our names."

"No, she knows them, she just can't keep them straight," Wing corrected his twin.

"I have had some birds watching you from afar for a while now. There are some subtle differences I knew to look out for. The first being your mirrored haircut, the second being your jewelry,"

"Little birds... like spies?" Wei asked.

"Precisely. I am a regional head of a division of my mother's Amber League. Have you heard of it?" Tetsuya asked.

Wing nodded with uncertainty. "It's like the Dai Li right?" Wing asked.

"Yes, only much more moral," Tetsuya replied with an air of contempt. "And far better dressed, I might add."

"You mean not dressed at all?" Wei asked with a wink at Tetsuya's bare body.

Tetsuya smiled. "You definitely have your maternal grandmother's humor."

"Yes!" Wei whispered pumping his arm in the air, proudly.

"Brother," another rather elegant man with waist-length, layered black hair cascading down his sculpted back said entering the bathroom and shrugging off a robe.

"Brother," Tetsuya said looking up at him.

Wing and Wei watched as the newcomer pulled the flame decoration out of the bun that contained half his hair and pulled the ribbon out of it letting the rest all fall in beautiful long black locks before he stepped into the large tub. When he finally turned and sat down, Wing and Wei gasped.

"You're identical twins too!" they exclaimed in unison at the sight of the two twin sons of the Fire Lord.

"We are!" the newcomer confirmed with the same sly grin.

"Yet what we share in physical likeness, we lack in the similarity of our personalities," Tetsuya informed Wing and Wei.

"Ahhh!"

"Cool!"

"Can you elaborate?" Huan asked, blank-faced.

"I inherited mother's brains. He inherited her strength," Tetsuya replied simply.

"Woah!" the twins gasped.

"And Azula's fourteen-year-old arrogance," Huan muttered.

"Pardon?" Tatsuya asked turning to the long-haired son of Suyin Beifong.

Huan shrugged and didn't respond.

"You're a quiet one, aren't you, Huan?" Tatsuya asked turning to the earthbender with the green bangs.

"What's there to say? You already know everything about us-" Huan shrugged dully.

"It is just casual conversation. Don't you want to get to know us?" Tatsuya asked feigning hurt.

"I was earth King for a week. Do you really think that in that time I wouldn't have placed a couple Dai Li agents under my command?" Huan asked blasé.

Tetsuya and Tatsuya were both smiling while Huan couldn't look more disinterested.

"You're a wise man, Huan," Tetsuya said raising his teacup.

Wing and Wei laughed. "Huan? Wise? All right, I guess we can give him that," Wing chuckled.

"But we're the cool ones!" Wei clarified.

"Yeah and the good-looking ones," Wing boasted.

"Of course you are," Tetsuya said raising a glass winking at Huan while the twins were distracted by their own raucous laughter. Huan showed no response.

* * *

 **The Guest Quarters**

The chambers Lin and Tenzin were given were in the Royal Resident Quarter of the palace, close to where Izumi and her family were staying. There was a massive four poster bed in the center of the room on an elevated platform, a wardrobe in addition to an empty walk-in closet, a makeup table, desk, bookshelf filled with selected works from the Royal Library that some of Izumi's advisors thought Tenzin might enjoy, and a full bar and tea kettle and stove top as well as an assortment of only the finest teas the Fire nation had to offer.

"Leave it to Zumi to provide such classy accommodations," Suyin said, sitting on the crimson blankets that covered the bed.

"She _is_ the Fire Lord," Lin reminded, Suyin changing out of the Fire Nation Red into some green Earth Kingdom robes while in the castle.

"Did she tell you?" Suyin asked.

"About her kiddos?" Lin said, changing into green robes.

"Yep. What do you think?"

"She's screwing herself over." Lin said, neatly folding her clothes and putting them away in the closet.

"How so?" Suyin asked, her eyes watching her sister with interest.

"By letting them find each other on their own."

"How would that screw her over?"

"Iroh knows the oldest three and Taemon he brought home, so the existence of the youngest three probably won't come as a surprise, but I have a feeling that Ursa won't be so accepting."

"And why is that?"

"Because she has known Saru all her life, and has never even known he had children."

"Well we've known our mother all our lives and didn't know she had Saru until less than a year ago," Suyin replied, laying down on the crimson clad bed. "This is no different."

"No different? Zumi wants to name Takeo the heir apparent!"

Suyin sat up quickly. "She did not mention that when she was telling me about her babies earlier."

"Well she told Tenzin and me after one of her henchmen confirmed that Ursa did not want to be the next Fire Lord."

"Well if Ursa doesn't want the crown then what's the problem?"

"The problem is that Ursa grew up thinking it was just her and Iroh. After Iroh went and joined an international army, Ursa believed she would have to become Fire Lord. Now suddenly her mom is remarrying and just _happens_ to have another heir lined up already? Zumi's dishonesty could seriously damage the trust between them." Lin explained. "But I guess you wouldn't know much about honesty, would you, Su." Lin added quietly.

"Hey! You take that back!" Suyin yelled chucking a rock at Lin's head. Lin ducked and returned a metal strip yanking Suyin off the bed by the wrist.

"Make me!" Lin replied.

"What is going on?!" a new voice interrupted.

"KYA!"

* * *

 **Above the Dragon Ballroom**

"And this is the Dragon Ballroom… It used to be where Sozin and later Azulon would showcase the heads of the dragons they slayed after returning from their various hunts. The remains of the dragons now reside in the Dragon Bone Catacombs underneath the city…" Ursa said pointing through an open archway in the hallway where they walked now to a cavernous ballroom below decorated with an abundance dragon designs crafted out of massive amounts of gold and rubies. There was a throne in every room as if the Fire Lord were expected to simply sit during any social function.

"Did you ever get lost in here as a child? Have you ever tried climbing one of those dragon-wrapped pillars? They look climb-able! Is your dragon allowed to come inside with you like a racoon-cat or a fire-ferret or a catfish? How many dragons are left in the world? When was the last 'event' that was held in this ballroom? Why are there SO MANY ballrooms? Why are there so many rooms? So many of the ones were just empty. What is the purpose of all the extravagance and excess…" Ikki rattled off breathlessly.

Huifan rolled her eyes and enjoyed the scenery of the ballroom. Not all of the rooms were empty, she thought. This one surely wasn't, Huifan thought as she spotted a trio of handsome Fire Nation men standing in the ballroom, looking up at the throne, talking about something.

"Princess Ursa, who are they?" Jinora asked pointing at the three down in the ballroom.

"The one furthest right is Kohaku. He is an intern for the secretary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs," Ursa answered as they walked. "I don't know the other two."

Huifan couldn't seem to take her eyes off the three men in the Dragon Ballroom. Two wore their hair long like Fire Nation royalty, but couldn't possibly be Fire Nation Royals. There were only three. Izumi, Iroh, and Ursa. Iroh already rebelled and chopped off his locks when he was eighteen and joined the United Forces. So who were these two.

"Fa-Ni! You coming?" Jiexue called from down the hall.

"You go on without me. I don't need the tour. I'll find my way back eventually with my feet," Huifan replied, waving them off.

"She'll be fine. We're safe here," Ursa said dismissively as she led the group down another hall.

Huifan turned back to the hall to find only two men remaining. The one who previously stood in the middle of the three was gone.

"I must say, the opulence is rather arresting," a smooth voice with an ambiguous Fire Nation accent said beside Huifan. She jumped to the side after realizing a man stood mere inches from her, leaning on the same railway, looking down at the same place. How long had he been there? How did her seismic sense not pick up his presence? Why didn't anybody else warn her some stranger was coming and… wait…

"Weren't you just down there?" Huifan asked the man, sliding away from him cautiously.

"Yes," he replied plainly, looking up now at the chandeliers.

"And how did you get up here so quickly? The nearest stairway to this level must have been at least eight minutes away walking," Huifan said, checking the layout of the palace with her feet.

"There aren't only firebenders living in this palace," the man replied with a smile.

"Are you an earthbender or something?" Huifan asked, checking the floors and walls for evidence of any disturbance.

"No," he said opening his hand to reveal a small red flame. "I wish I were, but alas, I have been cursed with such a common form of bending," he replied. "You know, firebenders are the most numerous type of benders alive today."

"Probably because they've killed off so many other types of benders," Huifan said suspiciously, trying to read the man's difficult heartbeat for some irregularity.

"In the past, yes, but times have changed," he replied.

"Who are you?" Huifan asked the man.

He finally turned to face her.

"My name is Lee. Taemon Lee," he said, bowing to her.

"You introduce yourself by your surname first as if you were a lord or someone of high standing." Huifan commented.

"Is that a crime?" Taemon asked.

"No, simply an observation."

"Yet you sound surprised."

"It's just that Lee is such a common name here in the Fire Nation." Huifan replied.

"Perhaps I am simply particularly proud of my branch of Lees. Perhaps my branch does indeed have standing? We are in a palace, are we not? Such a thing should not come as a shock to anybody."

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to offend," Huifan said with slight regret. Why did his gaze make her feel the need to look away?

"You cannot offend me." Taemon said proudly. "What do they call you, my lady? By the way you speak of people with high standing, I can tell you too are from a great family."

"Yeshe. Huifan Yeshe." she answered.

"You're a granddaughter of the last Avatar," Taemon said.

"How do you know?" _Grandfather never used his surname, and my parents didn't publish our last name in the Republic City Newspaper after their wedding. Most of the world still thinks we're all Beifongs._

"My father told me," Taemon replied.

"Your father must be a very well-read man to have unearthed such a piece of information."

"He's a bit like yours in that sense, though I must say, much more- fun and free-spirited."

Huifan laughed. "Is he a monk or one of the Fire Sages?"

"Oma-Shu, no! He's a businessman, and a great one at that."

"Have I heard of him?"

"Most likely," Taemon answered with a slightly devious grin that made Huifan's heart flutter slightly.

"Are you flirting with me?" she asked, not liking the expression he gave her.

"Spirits no! Don't worry! Besides, it is forbidden for me to court any daughter of Beifong,"

"You know of my mother too?" Huifan asked.

"Who doesn't?" Taemon laughed. "You act as if you are still living in isolation on that grand estate in Republic City. Times are changing, Huifan. We don't have to hide what we know anymore."

"And what else do you know that you're not telling me?"

"That there are other ways of hiding in plain sight of your enemies," he said, looking directly into her emerald eyes.

"Are you an enemy?" Huifan asked warily.

He smiled. "Not slightly." he said. She felt his heart then. He was being genuine.

Just then they were joined by a messenger. "Master Taemon. Your mother has summoned you," Unako said to the man standing before Huifan.

"Just me?" Taemon asked.

"You and your siblings," Unako replied.

"May I bring my new acquaintance?" he asked nodding to Huifan.

"She did not specify if you were to come alone," the messenger replied.

"Very well. Let us go," the man said, offering his arm to Huifan. She hesitated for a brief instant before linking wrists with him.

Unako eyed the two nervously wondering why Taemon didn't protest to Izumi being referred to as his mother as he usually did rather staunchly. Must have something to do with the Earth Kingdom Lady. _She is very beautiful._ Thought the messenger as Taemon lead them to the chamber.

"How do you know where you're going?" Huifan asked curiously as they walked for a while through corridors Ursa hadn't yet shown her and her siblings. "The messenger didn't specify a meeting place to see your mother?"

"We have a arranged to always meet at the same default location. It makes life so much easier since not all of us have spent as much time in the Palace as some others," Taemon replied. Huifan found herself walking a little bit taller than before when beside him.

* * *

 **The Throne Room**

"The Throne Room?" Huifan asked recognizing the massive doors that lead to the gallery before the throne room from the pictures in the history books.

"Yes," Taemon replied. The doors opened for the two of them. The hallway just inside was lined with Imperial Guardsmen, and then there was the smaller curtain with the Royal Family's flaming insignia embroidered in it hanging over the final entrance to the chamber.

Huifan gasped. The City Hall in Republic City had been big when she visited for her mother's retirement party, but this Throne room alone would have been able to engulf that building twice over with room to spare. The dragon-wrapped pillars were three times as large as those in the Dragon Ballroom. It was bright with an open skylight letting rays of sunshine in to reflect against the incredible amounts of gold on the pillars.

"Oh? What's this?" a man leaning against a column with his arms folded, one foot up, and a mane of long, loose yet tidy black hair flowing freely down his back and a single lock hanging in front of his face asked tauntingly with a rather alluring smirk.

"Has Taemon found himself a girlfriend?" the man whom Huifan saw in the Dragon Ballroom with the long, dark, loose ponytail asked standing next to the first. Huifan took a double take. Those two were twins! Both had identical faces, and an identical lock of hair falling down the middle of their faces.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Taemon replied defensively, quickly letting go of Huifan's hand. "She can't be. She's a _Beifong!_ "

"Oh?" the twins glanced sideways at each other, both smiling.

"Technically you _can_ still love her since you're not a blood Beifong," a man with slicked, long black hair secured in a low and tight ponytail at the base of his neck said standing without the support of a pillar reminded Taemon.

"Yeah, we don't get to choose who we love. It is just something that _happens_ ," a rather rougher, buffer looking man said looking directly at Huifan with a wink as though he knew something she didn't. Though he was well-dressed and well-groomed, Huifan could tell he had not been trained in high society etiquette as the others in the room.

"Oh Kuto, we don't need any more of your swamp philosophy," one of the twins groaned.

"No, Kuto has a point. We don't get to choose who we love," Taemon said turning to Huifan with a smile. She stepped away.

"Okay, look, I only just met this guy! We're not dating and **_certainly_** aren't anywhere near even wanting to love each other"

"I would believe you, but unfortunately for you, your heart tells the truth!" the gruff and buff man said throwing his arm over Huifan's shoulder as if he were already on familiar terms with her and had been for years. She tensed under him and then shoved him off of her and into the ground with a heavy thud kicking up a cloud of dust.

"You're an earthbender?" Huifan asked looking at the man on the ground. How else could he feel their heartbeats? And how could he read Taemon's. Taemon's was so… tricky… as if it were trained against truth-seers.

"Yep!" the man said finding his feet rather clumsily again.

"So does anyone know why Mother summoned us today?" the man with the long free hair asked leaning on his pillar.

"Does anyone ever know why Mother summons us any day as of late?" the oldest of them all asked standing solo with his long hair secured in a high pony tail that resembled the paintings and portraits of young Fire Lord Zuko.

"Where is she anyways?"

"Right here, forgive the delay. Minister for Foreign Affairs never does stop talking. I swear if we don't get him replaced by the end of the year, I am going to melt his mouth shut!" a familiar voice said entering the room.

Huifan turned and saw the Fire Lord entering brusquely with Masaru walking to her left, and the man Ursa identified as Genkei walking to her right with at least a dozen guards following them. "Aunt Zumi?" Huifan asked blinking her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"Huifan! I didn't expect to see you here. I see you've met the boys," Izumi said with a nervous smile as she joined them with Masaru.

"Uncle Saru?" Huifan asked blinking a couple of times again.

"Was Kuto being rude at all?" Izumi asked frowning at the earthbender who now stood but was still busy brushing himself off.

"He-"

"Or was it Taemon?" Izumi asked reading the looks on both of their faces, and seeing only the same childish innocence that always existed on Rikuto's face.

"No, neither were particularly rude, why do you ask?" Huifan asked.

"Well, Taemon does have a tendency to get himself into trouble. He and Tetsuya. You would not believe how often dear Sasuke has had to bail them out of rather… sticky situations, if I might say," Izumi said laughing lightly, motioning to the man leaning on the column with long flowing hair when she said Tetsuya and the standalone man with tight low ponytail hair when she said Sasuke.

Huifan looked at both. _Wait… the messenger said to Taemon his mother summoned him… And Tetsuya and the man with the ponytail asked about where their mother was and Izumi entered saying 'right here' and..._

"Sasuke Lee," the man with the slicked back hair and low ponytail said with deep bow. "I am a lawyer based out of the village of Shu Jing. I've also a firm in Fire Fountain City, Omashu, Ba Sing Se, and Zaofu."

"Lee? Wait! You're all Lees?" Huifan asked. _And then Taemon said they had a default meeting location…_

"Well, I was adopted, which is why they say it wouldn't be morally disgusting for me to fuck- I mean love you," Taemon said with a casual wave of his hand.

Izumi punched Taemon in the stomach as she walked forward past him to Huifan as if to make sure she wouldn't flee. "Yes, they are all Lees-"

"Uncle Saru- Aunt Zumi- They're yours?" Huifan asked stepping away from them warily avoiding Izumi's touch as if she were a physical flame. _Because not all of them have spent as much time in the Palace as some others..._

"Yes, Huifan, they are ours, but before you say another word, let me explain, and thank you and your family for everything," Masaru said stepping towards Huifan since she wouldn't let Izumi come nearer.

"Wait, thank us for what? Why?" Huifan asked stepping back with her hands up, mortified, seeing not family but strangers standing before her, strangers that only knew her name… and were coming closer.

"You've given us courage to go public with our relationship, to get married, and legitimize our children. You've inspired us to come out of the shadows. Because you and your siblings have assimilated so well to the world, blending in seamlessly with the masses, and acting with humility and grace, we thought our children may be able to do the same and join you in the light of each day..." Izumi answered for Masaru.

"You- you lied to us!" Huifan said stepping away from Izumi. "You lied to the world!- For decades!"

"Huifan, like your mother, we had our reasons for keeping our children a secret from everybody," Izumi said .

"Do Iroh and Ursa know?" Huifan demanded.

"Huifan-"

"DO THEY KNOW?!" Huifan repeated.

"Iroh does know of some of them. Ursa doesn't." Izumi said in defeat.

Huifan thought for a split second before turning on her heel and heading for the door of the throne room. Izumi clenched her fists, changing strategy instantly.

"Huifan Yeshe, where do you think you're going?" Izumi yelled at Lin's metalbending daughter in a condescending tone.

"To tell MY friend, YOUR daughter, what YOU should have told her a LONG time ago!" Huifan replied throwing open the curtains.

"BAR THE DOORS!" Izumi barked. There was a heavy slam and the doors to the antechamber shut.

Huifan turned on the Fire Lord. "Let me pass!" she demanded.

"Huifan, you must understand what we did we had to do for numerous reasons beyond your comprehension. Those aside, you have no right to interfere with the relative stability within **_my_** family-"

"Your family? Since you're marrying my BLOOD uncle, your family is mine so I have every right to interfere!" Huifan argued.

"Why are you so angry? Your own father didn't tell Jinora and her siblings about YOU!" Izumi argued.

"To protect Pema and secure the future of the Air Nation! Who were you protecting by withholding this information?" Huifan demanded.

"Ursa and the Fire Nation!" Izumi replied.

"And how was that supposed to protect either? What was your plan then? To let Ursa read about this little 'development' in the morning paper the day after your wedding? She's waited long enough Aunt Izumi! She deserves to hear the full story from family not from some random journalist who found a leak!" Huifan said turning to the door.

"And you still don't know the full story so don't you even think about taking one more step, young lady!" Izumi said.

"Oh and what are you going to do to stop me, My Lord? Burn me? Banish me? You need my mother and father as allies, if your precious Fire Nation is ever going to survive!" Huifan replied bowing to Izumi. She swung her leg backwards kicking right through the massive throne room doors and left the room fuming using earthbending to increase the speed at which she got away.

"Kuto, use your seismic sense. Find Ursa, we must intercept Huifan and stop her," Izumi ordered.

"Yes Ma'am!" Rikuto replied obediently kicking up a pillar so he could use all four limbs to map the palace.

"Uh… Mother, what about the rest of us?" Takeo asked.

"Yeah, were you going to talk to us about something?" Sasuke inquired.

"Succession, but unfortunately that conversation will have to wait," Izumi replied.

"FOUND THEM!" Rikuto yelled.

"Excuse us," Izumi said breaking off into a run, nudging Rikuto's arm to join her.

* * *

 **Some Hall in the Palace**

"Huifan's angry," Jinkun said suddenly as he and his siblings followed the Princess, Ursa down another expansive hall.

"How do you know?" Ursa asked halting her pace, turning to face the earthbending artist son of Lin and Tenzin..

"She makes these tremors when she walks when she's angry," Ikki explained. Just then, the ground really began to shake.

"Huifan is REALLY angry!" Meelo announced, frightened.

"We should probably run and hide," Kang suggested.

"No, I need to know what happened in my palace. Why would my friend be so angry?" Ursa said firmly walking towards the source of the quakes. "Are you alright?"

"You know those three guys we saw in the Dragon Ballroom?" Huifan asked breathlessly.

"Yeah?" Ursa said with her brows knitted with worry

"You said one was a guy called Kohaku,"

"Yeah?"

"Well the other two are your brothers," Huifan said seething with rage. "They're half-brothers but still brothers."

Ursa shook her head. "That is impossible. I only have one brother. Iroh… Mother would never-"

"I was just in the throne room. Both YOUR mother and MY uncle Saru confirmed it-"

"Uncle Saru? No!" Ursa yelled. "He wouldn't! Mother said he refused to touch her when they were teenagers because he cared too much for her reputation! She was married to my father for fifteen years before he was murdered in cold blood by assassins. Uncle Saru WOULDN'T engage in adultery! He knows it would ruin us! He- he's good! He has always been!" Ursa cried incredulously.

"I thought so too, Ursa," Huifan said hugging the princess.

When Ursa lifted her head from Huifan's shoulder, she saw her mother standing behind the earthbender, accompanied by a dozen members of the imperial guard, Genkei, and a man Ursa had never seen before. He wore Fire Nation clothes but no shoes like an earthbender.

"Sorry it took so long to locate them, Mother. My seismic sense is not as strong as the Beifong Girl. Grandma Toph says its because I'm a boy and boys are weak and-" the man rambled on.

"That will be all, Rikuto, you are dismissed now," Izumi said sternly, looking at Ursa in Huifan's arms.

"He called you Mother?" Ursa noted out loud, tears stinging her eyes. Huifan let go and turned to face the Fire Lord.

"Should I stay?" the man, Rikuto said.

"I said you were dismissed. Were you not listening?" Izumi asked dangerously.

"Forgive me mother," the earthbender said bowing before running off in the opposite direction.

"And his grandmother is Toph?" Ursa asked holding back sobs.

"Ursa, I can explain," Izumi said stepping towards her.

Ursa slid back. "It is a little late for that now, Mother," Ursa replied shaking her head before breaking off into a run.

"Thanks a lot, Huifan," Izumi said to the metalbender.

Huifan shook her head. "You brought this on yourself, Aunt Zumi," Huifan replied taking off in the same direction as Ursa.

Seconds later, Suyin, Kya and Lin arrived.

"What did you do?" Lin demanded of the Fire Lord Izumi.

"Why are you assuming this is my doing?" Izumi asked.

"I could feel my child quaking from six miles away, and last time I checked, my daughter was on good terms with all of her friends and siblings, which left _only you_ to fall out her good graces."

Izumi sighed.

"And then as I got closer, I could feel your daughter's heart breaking," Lin added.

Izumi closed her eyes, and tried to hold back her emotions. A Fire Lord wasn't allowed to cry in front of so many people, ESPECIALLY her own family.

"Let's get you guys tucked into rooms," Suyin said rounding up all of Lin's children with Kya's help ushering them away to let the two old friends to calm down.


	36. 2,6: Steam

**Chapter 6: Steam**

* * *

The incessant knocking was driving Ursa insane as she tossed and turned in bed.

"Ursa, please let us in!" Jiexue called through the door.

"I'm not interested!" Ursa replied.

"Not an option," Huifan said sliding the door open with her earthbending allowing Jiexue, Opal, Jinora, Ikki, and herself to enter against the Princess's wishes, as she closed the door behind them. Ursa groaned and rolled over covering her head with a pillow.

"If I didn't need my mother's approval, I'd have you all banished from the palace for intruding!" Ursa growled.

"Come on, we all know you don't want that," Huifan said sitting on the bed closest to Ursa.

"You said so yourself," Ikki began to say floating onto the foot of Ursa's massive bed, landing on her knees softly. "It gets lonely being a princess."

"Which is why we wanted to come talk to you." Opal informed the princess sitting on one corner with her back against one of the four posts. "Maybe having siblings won't be so bad even if they're only half."

"I mean… we're half siblings, and things are more or less alright, I guess," Xiaoyu said putting an arm around Jinora.

"That wasn't put very encouragingly," Jiexue said punching Xiaoyu in the arm on her way to sit opposite Huifan, close to Ursa. Xiaoyu scowled at her.

"In all honestly, the blood siblings are the worst, I think, and I am sure my father would agree," Xiaoyu growled.

"Ignore them. They're almost all idiots," Huifan said to Ursa. "I also wanted to apologize for overreacting earlier. I think my reaction may have contributed to your anger towards your mum. I too felt betrayed by her because… well… we grew up seeing her four times a year when no one else besides Aunt Kya was allowed to visit us. We thought she was a goddess and I'm pretty sure you felt the same way too at least sometimes. But everyone has his or her faults and secrets."

"And reasons, that more often than not, do justify their actions," Jiexue added.

"Well what were hers?" Ursa asked.

"Well, we don't know the specifics, but her story is hers to tell, not ours," Huifan replied.

Ursa sat up and pulled her knees in against her chest. "I guess I just liked not having competition."

"Competition?" Ikki asked.

"For Mother's attention. She spends so much time tending to the nation, sometimes I feel like she forgets about me. Now I know, it wasn't just the nation demanding her energy, but also a whole other family," Ursa said sadly.

"Don't think of them as being her 'other' family. Just think of them as friends you haven't met yet!" Ikki suggested optimistically, waving her arms in a large arch as if she could make a rainbow appear over her head.

Ursa smiled. "Okay, I'll try, little one," Ursa promised looking at the youngest female air baby

* * *

After getting her ears chewed off by Lin and occasionally Tenzin and Baatar, surprisingly, Izumi needed to relieve herself of some steam. She could take a bath and let her dragons battle each other into oblivion, or she could burn off some of the stress in the training room. She hoped to find it empty but alas, Tatsuya was there burning through punching bags.

"Tatsu, when is the last time you got into a tavern fight?" Izumi asked her son casually shedding her ceremonial armor.

"Last week just before you called for us. And you?" Tatsuya replied.

"Never," Izumi said plainly.

"Let me revise. When's the last time you got into any fight anywhere?" Tatsuya asked.

"The Siege Of Republic City."

"Did you enjoy it?"

"I don't enjoy fighting, no. And I don't enjoy killing, but if it is necessary, I will do it."

"Fair enough. What brings you down here this evening, Mother?" Tatsuya asked.

"Stress." Izumi replied simply taking off her extraneous layers until she was in nothing but a crimson tank top, black pants, and her deep burgundy boots with the single golden stripe up the middle of each leg. "How would you like to go up against your old Mother, like old times?"

"I wouldn't mind it," Tatsuya replied shrugging and kicking his last dummy over for good measure, decapitating it cleanly.

They started at opposite ends of the room and bowed to each other. Three paces right then two left again. Tatsuya lunged forward as his mother jumped towards him at the same time. He spun on the floor and kicked a wave of red towards her. She broke it effortlessly returning blue.

"You never do show mercy, do you?" Tatsuya commented.

"I do, to children under the age of ten, you're almost thirty, Love," Izumi replied. "You should be able to handle a little flame and couple bright lights," Izumi said sending lightning his way. Tatsuya effortlessly redirected it into the wall behind him.

"Your style has changed. It's more... fluid now like a waterbender," Izumi noted.

Tatsuya smiled. "Very observant, Mother," Tatsuya said creating a fire ball blasting it in her direction. She bade a blue dish shaped shield to block it in a dazzling teal display.

Izumi felt herself tiring quicker than she used to. She dodged a blast from her son and returned this time with one large, sustained blast from one hand. She knew he'd try to go around and he did. She got him with her foot and he fell over onto his back, getting the air knocked out of him.

"Ugh! I'm getting too old for these matches, mother," Tatsuya coughed.

"Oh please. I am twice your age, so stop complaining," Izumi said, walking over to get something to drink from the fountain in the corner of the training room, leaving her son to struggle to breathe on his own with full confidence in his recovery. Tatsuya wiped off his sweat and got himself a drink as well.

"So much has changed, Tatsu. So much _is_ _changing_ ," Izumi sighed bitter sweetly looking at her youngest son beside her all grown up.

"You have no idea," Tatsuya replied with a sly side eye that resembled his maternal grandmother, and great aunt immensely.

Izumi refilled her cup chugged it then burnt the paper thing to ash and walked over to wipe her sweat off.

"How are you for a second round? Can you redeem yourself or will continue to shame my teaching by losing again to an old lady?" Izumi asked her youngest son.

"Oh Master Mother! When you put it that way, I don't have a choice! I _must_ defeat the Fire Lord to regain my honor! Though that _is_ a rather high demand don't you think?"

"I never took you to shy away from anything," Izumi said with a smirk.

"I don't. I was merely testing that you're actually up to challenging me for real. That first match- that was just a spar."

"Don't get to cocky, my beloved Son," Izumi said smirking deviously. "You still have no idea the power I possess."

"Nor do you I," Tatsuya replied with a glint in his golden eyes.


	37. 2,7: Two Dragons

**Chapter 7: Two Dragons**

* * *

Ursa sat at her desk with her diary open.

 _It's been two days since I've seen Mother and for the first time, it's my fault. Marnie tells me Mother has cleared all of her meetings for an entire week and placed Kei-Lo in charge of the entire country temporarily so she can be free to spend time with family. They're only to contact her in the event of an emergency. I know it is still not ideal but it's a step, I guess, towards paying us more attention._

 _I've received invitations to tea with the other women of the family and dinners with everybody but this far have had no interest in going, and she hadn't made me. Jiexue even came by to see if I wanted to join her, Opal, and Huifan to try 'speed dating'. They told me they all were planning on using aliases as to not shame their respective families. I declined. The concept sound like a stupid waste of time, though who am I to judge? I've just wasted two days in my room brooding over what has already been done. Perhaps I should try to talk to Mother and get the full story. She never has intentionally hurt me. She tried her best to protect me from the Fire Sages and the Academy. She granted me all the freedom she could allow without ruining my family or sacrificing our safety. Maybe I will this afternoon or something, after tea._

* * *

"I swear to Ran and Sha, Lin, if you say one more word criticizing my parenting methods-" Izumi growled haughtily, storming away from the almost equally enraged metalbender.

"I'm not criticizing! I'm just trying to help you see things from a different perspective!" Lin replied. "Believe it or not, I'm looking out for you, Zumzu!"

"Well, I don't need you to, so **stop**!" Izumi yelled, halting and swinging a blazing hand to put distance between her and the earthbender. A guard opened the door to the parlor to allow the Fire Lord and the former Chief of Police of Republic City to enter.

One one long, red velvet daybed, Kya and Suyin lay intertwined in each other's arms, dozing in and out of consciousness, both completely at ease. Opposite them, two legendary ancients sat watching their daughter's with mild amusement.

"Mom?" Lin exclaimed with surprise.

"Aunt Katara," Izumi acknowledged.

"What are you doing here?" Lin asked.

"I came for the wedding of course, and to remind Kuto to teach Huifan how real earthbenders fight." Toph answered casually.

"Aunt Toph, you're going to get my son killed," Izumi frowned disapprovingly, rubbing her head.

"You underestimate your kiddos, Zumi. You always have," Toph replied, casually kicking her feet up on the table in front of her, tucking her hands behind her head.

Izumi pretended to not hear the truth that Toph spoke and turned to Genkei. "What is the status of the Satomobile?"

"Almost here, my Lord."

"Any troubles with my daughter?"

"None. She came right after her exam, as promised."

"Excellent." Izumi took a deep breath, worry plain as day on her face.

"Why have you been so damn angsty recently?" Suyin asked Izumi. "You're acting like your father."

"Maybe it's because cat's out of the bag and her world is falling apart?" Lin suggested.

"Will you QUIT IT?!" Izumi yelled at Lin who shrugged and walked to the other end of the room, by the fireplace.

"My Lord," Genkei said entering. "The car has arrived."

"I should go warn her," Izumi said starting to leave.

"Na-ah!" Toph said putting one foot down, encasing Izumi's feet in rock. "You SHOULD relax. We're all going to be family. If you're still all high-strung and crazy when your little girl shows up, it will stress her out."

"You will stress her out," Izumi deadpanned.

"We're just aunties, and grannies. The girl is not walking into a snake pit, so CALM DOWN!" Toph said slowly.

Izumi took a deep breath, and Toph released her feet so she could stand normally again.

Suyin slid one foot off the bed and onto the floor, listening to the palace activity with her seismic sense with her eyes closed and her head resting on Kya's shoulder. She gasped. "She's coming! Everybody, look natural!" Suyin whispered ecstatically, snuggling up tighter against Kya's body.

Lin folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Just through here, Miss," a male voice said, Miyoko's handler.

"Thank you, Rinjuk," the young lady replied, bowing to the escort who opened the door for her.

She was absolutely lovely. She had a heart shaped face with a little pointed chin, a small nose, and slanted, narrow eyes like her mother and maternal grandmother. Her face was framed perfectly by two long tendrils. Half of the remainder of her dark straight hair that fell past her waist was secured in a bun at the top rear of her head and decorated with a small, golden band with a red flame. She wore a halter top that exposed her tiny waist and not particularly muscular torso. She wore long, modest skirts with a sash that rested loosely on her gently sloping hips and was fastened with a brooch also bearing a flame, and lastly, on both arms, she wore golden bands that signified her wealthy upbringing.

She scanned the room with her amber eyes, before resting her gaze on her the Fire Lord, wearing casual, light pink robes for her vacation.

"Mother," Miyoko said, bowing low to a respectful ninety degrees.

"Yoko, how many times do I need to tell you, you do not need to bow to me?" Izumi reprimanded sternly.

Lin and Suyin, both mothers, noticed the flash of hurt across the young lady's face that she was quick to conceal.

"Forgive me, Mother. You also told me that such an exception only applied when we were in private, but now we've company," Miyoko replied, acknowledging the critical crowd.

"They are company, but they are also family now, so the exception applies," Izumi corrected her. Miyoko glanced sideways at her mother hesitantly, trying to read her emotions to know how to act in front of these strangers. "Yoko, you know Grandma Toph and Master Katara," Izumi said indicating the ancients before turning to the three women. "The earthbenders are your father's sisters, Lin and Suyin Beifong, and the waterbender is Lin's sister-in-law. Kya. We were all good friends way back when," Izumi introduced them.

"I like to think we're still all good friends," Kya jabbed. Izumi bit her lower lip to contain her discomfort.

"It really is a pleasure to meet all of you," Miyoko said bowing low and respectfully.

Suyin stood and smiled at the young woman. "Zumi, she's beautiful!" Suyin exclaimed, touching the girl's perfect hair.

Miyoko grimaced slightly at the contact, as if she wanted to run away but was trained to stay.

"And she's so polite!" Kya said walking around the girl, scanning her, up and down. Miyoko shifted uncomfortably, shrugging Suyin's hand off her shoulder, lifting her chin, and turning to her mother with pleading eyes to rescue her.

"Please, Su, Kya, she's just a girl! Not an exhibit," Izumi reminded them loudly.

"I know, she's just- perfect!" Suyin exclaimed.

"I can't believe she didn't burn Su on sight as soon as she got within five feet," Lin laughed from the opposite side of the room.

"I would have, but as I recall, roasting the Earth Queen would be a declaration of war the Fire Nation really doesn't need," Miyoko muttered quietly.

Everyone in the room laughed except the two Fire Nation ladies.

"Where have you kept such an intelligent beauty hidden?" Suyin asked Izumi with a wide smile.

"In plain sight to anyone who cared to go looking," Izumi replied plainly.

"Forgive me all, I'd love to remain and… talk… but I have projects due at the end of spring break, and would really like to get started on them sooner rather than later," Miyoko said to the group, taking a step back. "Excuse me."

"Not so fast," Lin said sliding her foot on the floor, blocking the door to the parlor with an earthen slab.

Miyoko turned around nervously.

"Lin, please let her go," Izumi requested fiddling her hands.

"We just want to get to know our new niece!" Suyin claimed.

"Yes! Please at least tell us about yourself, Miyoko," Kya asked.

Miyoko looked down for a moment and sighed before collecting herself and putting on a regal mask of composure that mirrored her mother exactly. "What would you like to know?" she asked with a voice clear and smooth as water.

"How old are you?"

"Are you a bender? If so, what element?"

"What are you studying in university?"

"What do you do on your free time?"

"I am nineteen years old, I am a firebender who vehemently despises violence and gore. I am studying political science, and on my free time, I do research and write articles for the column that my student group manages in the school newspaper," Miyoko answered dutifully.

"And what do you write about, primarily?" Suyin asked.

Izumi turned away.

"The necessary dissolution of the Fire Nation Monarchy," Miyoko replied.

 _Well, she's out. My greatest creation and greatest disgrace all wrapped into one beautiful, intelligent, and powerful young, girl,_ Izumi sighed. _There you have it, my precious daughter, youngest child, and last chance to do good in the world._

"Miyoko," Suyin started slowly. "You do realize your mother is the monarch?"

"She is still first and foremost, just my mother," Miyoko shot back aggressively, her eyes slanting into a dangerous glare. "And I, unlike some, can separate family from politics and not be blindsided by emotion." Miyoko growled before turning away from her aunts to face her mother. "Mother, if that is all, may I _please_ go?" she asked with a certain sadness and desperation in her voice.

"Yes, Love," Izumi answered quickly, firing lightning at the door to crack the earth for Miyoko to kick aside on her way out. She swung the door open to come face to face with a stunned Crown Princess Ursa.

"Princess!" Miyoko gasped falling to her knees, bowing dutifully.

Ursa looked down at the nineteen year old, the 'perfect' one who was 'so polite' and 'beautiful' and her _sister_.

"Princess forgive me," Miyoko begged, mixed feeling overwhelming her senses as she kept her gaze on the Princess's feet.

"Don't talk to me!" Ursa snapped before turning to her mother.

"Yoko, please get up," Izumi ordered.

Miyoko stayed down.

"Mother, how could you?" Ursa demanded, her voice cracking. "How could you hide them, hide HER from your true-born children?"

"Ursa, please understand. I didn't have a choice-" Izumi pleaded, taking a step towards the princess.

"You did!" Ursa yelled, her voice shrill with agony. "You've always had choices, Mother! How can you claim to not have a choice when you have absolute authority over an entire nation?! You were just ashamed and WEAK-"

"That's a lie! She is not weak! She's the STRONGEST woman that walks this Earth! If you had any idea what it's like to walk a wire above a pit FILLED with displeased progressives CONSTANTLY throwing all the sins of your forefathers in your face, conservatives RELENTLESSLY calling you a spineless puppet of foreign dignitaries, and Fire Sages WHORING you away to some far off governor for both national stability and the survival of the dynasty, you'd have a little more sympathy for our mother's situation!" Miyoko yelled at the Princess.

"I said, DON'T TALK TO ME!" Ursa yelled lashing out with blue fire before breaking into a run. Miyoko split it and took off after her.

"URSA!" Izumi shrieked taking off as well.

"Leave me alone!" Ursa yelled at both her mother and her sister.

"Princess, please!" Miyoko begged, reaching out to grab her wrist.

"Unhand me!" Ursa yelled turning, subconsciously generating lightning in her free hand and striking. Miyoko screamed, clutching her side. Fortunately, Ursa's aim was off in the heat of her rage, and the younger girl only sustained a minor injury, a deep graze, but it was close to her heart.

Ursa looked down at her Mother clutching the crying girl. Frightened by her own aggression, the Princess fled.

"YOU NEED to go to her! Tell her the truth and APOLOGIZE for lying!" Miyoko yelled at her mother.

"But you're hurt!" Izumi said touching the girl's wound.

"I'll be fine! Wounds can heal on their own but hearts won't! She's your daughter too! Stop playing favorites like Aunt Su!" Miyoko yelled with tears streaming down her eyes.

"Let me see it, child," Kya said, prying Miyoko's hand off her side and bending healing water to the surface of the skin.

Izumi took one last worried look at her baby and sprinted after her second youngest.

"There, there, child. This pain is only temporary," Lin said, scooping the youngest daughter of her best friend into her lap while she cried.

Suyin stayed back. _What did she mean when she said 'stop playing favorites like Aunt Su?'_

* * *

"Ursa! Ursa, open the door!" Izumi demanded, knocking violently. "Ursa, I've given you two days of space, you won't get anymore! If you don't open this door in five seconds, I am forcing entry!" Izumi yelled.

Five… Four… Three… Two… One…

Izumi stepped back and kicked it down with a foot full of blinding hot, blue fire.

"Ursa!-" but the room was empty. Room empty, curtains open, window agape.

"Ursa!" Izumi looked down and saw nothing but charmarks in the grassy courtyard below where the girl likely used fire blasts to slow her landing.

"Genkei! Tadashi! Sunako! Lock down the palace! Seal all of the passages! Nobody leaves tonight until the Princess is found and brought to me!" Izumi ordered her personal guard before storming back to her friends and baby.

She turned the last corner down the last hall to see them all still huddled there, then turned away and kept walking, just out of sight, and fell to her knees, and cried, silently, for nobody could ever see the Fire Lord weeping. It was a display of weakness the family could not afford.

Lin, Suyin, and Toph all looked up simultaneously.

"She's near, isn't she?" Miyoko asked quietly, feeling the former Chief of police move.

"I'll go to her," Suyin said, jogging down the hall.

"Zumi?" Suyin asked, approaching the crumpled pink clad figure on the floor. Just then, the fire Lord's hair blazed full blue, and a dragon appeared out from under her in a flash of Light. Suyin jumped back.

"Zumi? Zumi! It's me! Your friend!" Suyin said as the dragon approached her, growling. "Your little sister from another mister!" the Earth Queen added as the flaming blue dragon got bigger. "The one who didn't know how to behave! The one you saved from the Triple Threats that one friday evening! Zumi!" Suyin shrieked as the dragon got ready to lunge. Suyin could feel the heat rising as the dragon grew.

Just then, a red dragon made of pure fire leapt over Suyin's shoulder and engulfed the blue one whole and Izumi hiccuped and fell stil, her fists clenched over her knees, her hair turned black again, and she turned to see Suyin with her hands up in surrender, still thoroughly bewildered, and beside her, Masaru looking down upon her with pity.

"I'm sorry," Izumi whispered.

"You shouldn't have sent the guards on a manhunt for the princess, Izumi," Masaru said.

"What should have I done?"

"Enlisted family. An earthbender. Suyin or Lin, even Kuto or Huifan would have sufficed. But the manhunt makes everything so public, so… demeaning-humiliating," Masaru said helping Izumi to her feet.

"She will never forgive me," Izumi whispered leaning into Masaru's body, welcoming his embrace.

Suyin eyed them both wearily. What were those- things… she wanted to ask, but would have to wait for a time when they weren't in such a devastating quandary.

Masaru eyed his youngest half sister, and as if he could read her mind, answered, "They were Izumi's Hurt, and my Anger. They're each other's greatest enemies."

* * *

At a Beifong Dinner in the Tigerdillo Dining Hall, Suyin, Lin and their families all gathered to feast. There was raucous laughter from Suyin's twins, and Lin's eldest son at one end of the one of the two tables, a heated debate between Opal, Xiaoyu, and Jinora against Jiexue, Huifan, and Ikki towards the middle of the table, and a silent game of glaring between Huan and Jinkun at the other end of the table.

Over at the adult's table, Toph sat observing the quiet, civil, and rather pleasant conversation that Lin and Tenzin were having with Baatar Sr. and Suyin who sat across from them.

"Aunt Toph," Izumi said, approaching the adult's table with caution.

"Zumi!" So kind of you to join us! Pull up a seat!" Toph said, sliding aside and kicking up an earthen stool for the Fire Lord to sit.

"Actually, I was just hoping to get a quick word with you privately before I go… tend to things. Forgive me for intruding on your family meal— I know I should have waited until after but—"

"Intruding on family?" Toph asked, slamming the earthen stool down with a heavy thud before standing and walking over to the shy Fire Lord. "Zumzu, stop apologizing for everything! You're going to be officially part of the family soon, so you better start acting like it! You're marrying MY SON, remember, girly?" Toph asked, knocking on Izumi's pale, grey-haired head.

The Fire Lord winced and leaned away. "Right, Forgive me-," Izumi said apologetically, adjusting the glasses on her face.

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT APOLOGIZING?!" Toph yelled, silencing the room. "If I hear forgive me come out of your pretty little painted mouth one more time, I swear I'm going to metalbend your little crown into a the words "fuck you" and slap it over your face so that no one ever expects an apology from you ever again!" Toph threatened.

Izumi blinked and glanced at Suyin and Lin and in terror.

"I-" She stuttered. "I'll just come back later-" Izumi said turning to leave in tears.

"I- I'm sorry, Kid. I really didn't mean to scare you away, little dragon baby, I'm coming. Sorry for forgetting about your recent increase in sensitivity," Toph said, sliding off her chair and following Izumi from the room.

* * *

"So what's on your mind, girly?"

"I- I need advice. I have two girls from two different dragons who despise each other AND me and I don't want them to end up like Lin and Su, not speaking to each other or myself for DECADES! Toph, please-help me!" Izumi begged.

"If that's your problem, then I'm sorry but I can't be of any help. I don't know what my girl's problems were. I thought that by hiding their fathers from them, they would never know the pain of missing a wonderful human being that they could never meet. I thought that by being hard on them in bending practice, they'd develop a thick skin, but now they just resent me for my alleged cruelty. What I thought was letting them be free to explore themselves and their own passions, they interpreted as neglect and apathy. If there's anything I CAN tell you, Izumi is that being a mother isn't easy. You will do everything wrong because each child is different and there is no way of predicting how they will react to anything. Only one thing I think can be said for all children."

"What?"

"They want your love and attention."

"Ugh! I thought I _was_ giving them that but-"

"I thought that I was giving Lin and Su that too, but look what happened. Maybe you should talk to _them_ about what they felt they were lacking," Toph suggested.

"I will. Thank you, Aunt Toph for everything!" Izumi said, hugging the inventor of metalbending.

"Any time, Little Zumzu," Toph replied, relaxing slightly and returning the hug, albeit reluctantly.

* * *

Izumi waited until after the Beifong families finished their feast before approaching Lin and Suyin about her predicament. She found them alone walking back from the library a little while later.

"Zumi! How was your evening, other than that talk with mom?" Suyin inquired as positively as one could be in times like these.

"Dreadfully quiet," Izumi replied sadly.

"Been pacing in Azula's quarter?" Lin asked knowingly.

"How did you know?"

Lin lifted a bare foot for Izumi to see.

"I get why you like it. No guards go there." Lin replied.

"They're not allowed to," Izumi explained. "Would you care to join me? Sometimes it does get awfully lonely."

"Why do you spend so much time there and not with your family?" Suyin questioned.

"It's the only place I've ever had real privacy and been given space to just think. Now more than ever I need it," Izumi said, downcast as she walked with the sisters towards the usually vacant part of the castle. "I think I might have made a huge mistake."

"Things didn't turn out as you hoped?" Suyin asked.

"Thanks to Huifan," Izumi mumbled.

"Hey, don't put this on my daughter," Lin said warningly. "I agree that she had no right to intervene with your private affairs, but, as I have told you before, I don't think you should have kept your kids a secret from Iroh and Ursa."

"I know," Izumi sighed. "Which is why I wanted to ask for your advice. I have two girls from two different dragons that hate me and each other right now, and I don't want them-us-to end up how you did with Aunt Toph."

"And how do you think we can help with that?" Suyin asked, curious. Izumi was not one to ask for help, even when she desperately needed it.

"I was wondering-if it is not too painful, of course-if would you share with me the things you wish Toph did or didn't do. Maybe it could give me some insight on how my daughters might be feeling. I would ask them, but Ursa is still avoiding contact, and Yoko is just…difficult in times like these, like… she will let me into her room and just not speak for hours."

"A little love would have been nice," Lin shrugged.

"How do you show your children love? I always thought words meant nothing." Izumi asked.

"Give them the freedom of choice."

"But not too much or that is neglect."

"Don't compare them, and their abilities."

"Acknowledge their accomplishments and abilities."

"Don't criticize the little things."

"Can you be a little more specific, because I thought I was doing all of those things," Izumi told them.

"Well you're not—" Lin replied plainly.

"What Lin is trying to say is we noticed a couple of things when you introduced Yoko." Suyin clarified.

"As soon as she came in, the first thing you did was reprimand her for bowing to you. It's just a sign of respect. I know you just want her to know she can be casual and informal around you because you're her mother, but you could have talked to her about it later, in private and not so publically," Lin explained.

"Then what should I have done?" Izumi asked.

"A 'hello' probably would have been nice," Lin suggested.

"How was the exam?" Suyin said.

"How was the traffic?" Lin threw out.

"It seems so shallow!" Izumi yelled with frustration.

"It's not shallow! It shows that you have an interest in their daily lives and that you're not just looking out for their future and constantly trying to teach them a lesson." Lin said, slightly aghast. How on earth did Zumi grow up if she had to explain this?

"I think the biggest thing we wished our mother gave us, was time," Suyin concluded.

"Time?" Izumi asked.

"She was always missing dinner because of the night shift. Missing breakfast because she was asleep. Missing lunch because of the day shift. She took no interest in my dance recitals even after I told her that even though it is called a visual art, there's still movement and she would have been able to see with her feet."

"After you left the Flaming Moonbadgers, she decided our team was shit and stopped training with us so there went my five hours with her a week," Lin said, a slight bitterness in her voice.

"Really?"

"And I joined the Terra Triad hoping each day to be caught and arrested with the slim chance that they'd take me to my mother just so I could hear her say my name again," Suyin said wistfully. "At that point, it didn't matter what tone she said it in. I just missed her voice."

"I joined the police force hoping I could see her every day for more than an hour. It was a mistake because all she ever did was criticize how my methods were inefficient, my organization not sufficient, my treatment of inmates too….

But Izumi stopped listening.

* * *

" _Mama!" Yoko kicked the grills off the vent and jumped out with a couple licks of flames as she leapt into Izumi's arms._

" _Yoko! You shouldn't be so loud! Someone could hear you! If they knew—"_

" _I know, they'll take me away!" Yoko groaned, rolling her beautiful amber eyes. "But this is Azula's quarter!" She said more cheerfully. "You said no one is allowed to come but family, and family already knows about me so, what's the problem?"_

" _It's just not a good practice to come bursting out of the vents like that," Izumi sighed._

" _Oh," Yoko said, leaning on her mother's shoulder and looking on the grills on the floor sadly. "I just thought— never mind."_

" _Thought what, my love?"_

" _I just thought you'd be proud of how strong I have been getting. You told me how even by the time you were nine years old, you needed Father's help to kick out the grills and couldn't travel the vents alone. And I'm seven and kicked it out all on my own."_

" _I am proud of you, Love, and I'm glad you're getting stronger. I just— want you to be careful. I don't want to lose you." Izumi rubbed her back and smelled her hair before setting her down. "Now, I would love to stay, but I am already late to a meeting," she said, rushing off and leaving a dejected Yoko behind._

 _She remembered now, the girl's face. She was heart broken, left standing in that hallway wearing her dirty little pillow case with dust, dirt, and grime on her face. Just left there, like an orphan with nobody. And the little girl sniffled._

* * *

 _Another time, in the office her child appeared under her desk. "I've been waiting!" Yoko announced her presence excitedly._

" _Yoko! You gave me a heart attack!" Izumi gasped, clutching the arm of her chair._

" _I'm sorry!" the girl replied on the verge of tears, leaning away from her mother, and ducking back into the shadows under the desk, pressing her body against the dark cherry wood, tucking her knees into her chest. "I just missed you. It's been eight days since I've last seen you—" She whimpered looking down at the open vent and the hole in the ground. "But if I'm interrupting, I'll go," she said about to slip away into the vents again. "I don't want to be the cause of more stress or pain."_

" _No, Yoko! Come here! I have a few minutes before the next meeting." Izumi said reaching for her._

 _Miyoko climbed up onto her lap and curled up._

" _So what did you want to talk about, my sweet?"_

" _I didn't want to talk," the girl responded wiping her eyes. "I just wanted you to see me. I know the world can't know I exist, but sometimes it feels like you forget too that I'm here, still living," Miyoko whispered leaning on her armor, but snaking her hand into her mother's robes to feel the warmth of her breast._

" _That's not true. I could never forget you," Izumi said, crestfallen that her daughter would believe that could happen._

 _Never forget you…_

* * *

 _Years later, Izumi went to Masaru's house to fetch her ten year old baby. Masaru looked angry with her._

" _Where's Yoko?" Izumi asked._

" _You missed it?"_

" _Missed what?"_

" _You missed our trip," Masaru said. "We were going to go as a family and you missed it,"_

" _There was an emergency session! I couldn't just leave."_

" _It was Yoko's turn to meet the DRAGONS!"_

 _The sun warriors. The ritual. The dance. The eternal flame… Izumi ran up the stairs of Masaru's estate faster than her legs could carry her to find her daughter laying flat on her stomach with her face buried in the sheets._

" _Yoko! I'm sorry-"_

" _You're not!" She yelled lashing out with a green flame. "You say you are but you're not! If you were, things would change but they don't! So go away! I don't need you anymore! Just go— serve your country like a legitimate Princess and leave me!"_

" _Yoko!"_

" _Don't touch me!" She lashed out again but with a red flame. She sat with her back to her mother and her knees curled against her chest._

" _How was the ceremony at least?"_

" _Horrible. I thought I was going to die. I let the flame go out halfway up the final stairs to the lair. I thought they were going to roast me alive, and I wouldn't even get to say goodbye because you weren't even there," Miyoko cried._

" _Yoko—"_

" _I said DON'T TOUCH!" Miyoko leapt out of bed and across the room in one jump into a corner with her knees pulled tight and her hands out in front of her. Izumi couldn't believe what she was remembering. Why don't she do more then? Why didn't she stay and wait? Instead, she relented, and walked away._

" _She'll come around," Masaru told her._

 _A few days later, Masaru asked Izumi if she'd seen the girl. No._

" _She left for the palace. Shortly after you returned. I thought she went to find you," Masaru said confusedly._

" _Well she didn't."_

" _She's been with me," Mai told Izumi later that evening. "She wanted to learn to be a proper princess for when you DO legitimize her. She wants to help lighten your load."_

" _Really? Why?"_

" _She misses you, Izumi,"_

" _She can come visit."_

" _A few minutes between meetings is not enough."..._

 _Why didn't Izumi have as many memories with Ursa?_

* * *

" _We have decided it would be best if the Princess attended the Royal Academy for Girls like her predecessors." Miu told the Crown Princess one solemn afternoon._

" _No! You can't! She's too young! Only six years old! She needs me!"_

" _She needs friends her own age. Wasn't your primary complaint growing up that you were lonely?" the Fire Sages replied._

" _Where is she?" the Crown Princess demanded._

" _Already gone-"_

" _No, NO!" Izumi screamed and slammed her fists into the ground. Blue fire exploded destroying the ceilings and the walls of that part of the palace. She didn't move for hours at least, just grew the flames higher and higher, until Masaru came. Only he could endure the heat of her pain. He walked through fire and enveloped her body like a blanket and held her until her pain subsided._

 _When Ursa returned, there were bruises on her body. "What is that?"_

" _Weakness leaving me," the girl recited dutifully._

 _It took everything in Izumi's power not to destroy everything in a fit of rage._

" _Who did this to you?" She asked her daughter sternly._

" _Master Jiyu," Ursa replied expressionlessly as she took off her robes._

" _Ursa, listen to me. You don't have to listen to them. Being a warrior and being a princess is not always about enduring. It's not about being strong and smart and being able to judge right from wrong. Do you understand me?" Izumi asked._

" _Yes. I also understand that right and wrong are subject to different interpretations by multiple parties. And I don't have to listen to you either," Ursa said defiantly._

" _I beg your pardon?" Izumi gasped. "I am your mother!"_

" _Master Jiyu says you're a traitor to the Fire Nation." Ursa replied smoothly._

" _I'm the traitor? Ursa, you listen very carefully. MY father, your grandfather is the Fire Lord and I am the Crown Princess. Together, WE ARE the the Fire Nation and anyone who opposes us is a traitor," Izumi asked. "ESPECIALLY your teachers who dare try to turn you against us."_

" _Hm." the girl said, disinterested._

" _We fight for peace, Ursa. There is no glory in imperialism. Only subjugation, death, and misery. What they want is to have more subjects upon which they can exercise their sadistic tendencies. What they fail to remember is to that into reestablish an empire would require sending thousands of men as young as you to death in a massacre overseas. Fire is not destruction. It is life and as keepers of the Fire Nation, your grandfather and I work tirelessly to preserve exactly that. If your teachers continue to be impediments to our progress by trying to brainwash you to be their puppet, they will be eliminated. It is a small sacrifice for lasting peace."_

* * *

" _Almost perfect, just one hair out of place," Izumi said later, to Ursa, on holiday._

" _Almost isn't good enough!"_

" _You know, as much as you don't want to be, you're exactly like me when I was your age. So eager to please while at the same time perfectly at ease with rebelling," Izumi said stone faced while looking down at her grumpy daughter._

" _I hate the academy!"_

" _Then don't go. I won't make you, and you're strong enough to fight whoever tries to make you return. It's not needed at this point anyways."_

" _Really?"_

" _I never went and I'm still breathing." Izumi said, shrugging._

" _Then how did you make friends?"_

" _My mother took me to Republic City when I was thirteen and I made acquaintances with the children of her old friends," Izumi replied._

" _Do they have any children?"_

" _Actually, Lin does, let me see if I can arrange a meeting," Izumi told her princess._

 _And so she and her daughter teamed up against the Fire Sages. Ursa got to travel back and forth to Republic City, Ember Island and home. She was free. Or at least Izumi thought she was._

" _Mother, come with me," Ursa begged before embarking on another one of her adventures to some far off land._

" _I'm sorry, love, I'm busy. Maybe another time," Izumi replied and walked away through the secret tunnel to Masaru's estate without even asking about the Princess's most recent trip to the City._

* * *

" _Where's Yoko?"_

" _School."_

" _School? If someone knows—"_

" _They won't. She bears my name. It would be impossible to trace her to you."_

" _But school this late in the day?"_

" _She joined the orchestra and the kuai ball team. She stays late most days."_

" _Why didn't you tell me?" Izumi said angrily._

" _We did. Months ago, you've just been busy."_

" _Saru- I,"_

" _No, don't apologize. We understand your priorities."_

" _You know in a heartbeat, I'd give it all away for another moment with family," Izumi said solemnly_

" _But you don't…"_

* * *

"Zumi? ZUMI!" Lin screamed.

"Get back! Last time the heat rose like this, her hair turned blue she made a dragon that tried to kill me!" Suyin warned her blood sister pulling her away from the distressed Fire Lord.

"I'm sorry," Izumi said falling from her knees into her behind, clutching her chest, suppressing sobs. "It's just—"

"Memories," Lin said knowingly.

Izumi nodded and covered her mouth as tears streamed silently from her eyes.

"Just let it out, Zumi. Stop trying to be so perfect all the time." Lin said.

"I've been a terrible mother to them!"

"You haven't been terrible. You just tried to do what was best and got a little carried away, that's all," Suyin replied.

"Even if you've been a terrible mother, which I highly doubt, it's never too late to reach out again and try to make amends," Lin said, kneeling before her burning friend. Izumi looked at Lin with worry. "Deep breaths, you'll be fine. They'll be fine. We'll all get through this. Don't worry…" Lin said patiently. Izumi took deep slow breaths and cooled down.

Just then they heard footsteps and Masaru came running. "I felt a flare! Is everything alright?" He asked. He was shirtless and covered in sweat with a couple minor burns and bruises from sparring somebody.

"Everything's fine," Izumi said, taking Lin's hand to prove she wasn't still burning. Lin helped her up. "Actually, can you tell our children dinner tomorrow night in the Cherry Blossom Galley? Iroh and Ursa included?"

"Of course. Anything else you need?" Masaru asked.

"A night with you," Izumi replied letting go of Lin's hand to reach for Masaru.

"Of course. I'll see you later."

"Where were you just now?" Izumi asked Masaru curiously.

"Sparring room. The boys were all down there with Wing and Wei and Hungjian. Then Huifan and Jiexue showed up with the kiddos and then Huifan volun-told her father to fight me and—,"

"Tenzin consented to a duel?"

"Yeah," Masaru replied. "After a little light persuasion from Bumi."

"Oma-Shu!" Suyin exclaimed.

"You should join us. It's fun to watch at least, if you don't want to get dirty," Masaru shrugged.

"Get dirty? I'm always down for a fight, you know that," Lin laughed, rolling up her sleeves.

"Great! Zumi, do you want to come?" Suyin asked.

"Sure. It will give me time with the boys. I don't get to see them often now that they're grown." Izumi shrugged, thinking about her girls.

* * *

Rikuto was sparring Huifan with Toph egging both of them on while their families watched.

"Hey Mom!" both Huifan and Rikuto yelled in unison, before stunning themselves with their shared seismic capabilities and laughing.

"Hey, no laughing! What kind of fight is this?!" Meelo yelled impatiently.

"Sorry, Kid!" Rikuto said, striking Huifan in the rib. She flexed just in time and shattered the rock with her muscle before cartwheeling to the side and kicked.

"Kuto! Her left ankle has been broken before! If you keep aiming there, it may break again!" Tetsuya yelled with a smile.

"You know you're really starting to annoy me with your insufferable knowledge of everything!" Huifan yelled over the commotion, splitting her attention for a second to send a rock towards Izumi's twins, aiming at the frighteningly intelligent one. They parted to let the rock smash into the wall behind them and smiled.

"I don't remember Huifan ever breaking any bones," Lin commented, raising a brow curiously as she stood next to the Fire Lord, both now wearing plain tank tops and loose pants cinched at the waist and ankles.

"I do. I broke it," Izumi replied. Lin turned to her with disbelief. "It was in the arena at the Beifong estate. Kya and I were fighting Huifan two on one and Kya distracted her so I could get close enough for hand to hand combat and I kicked her in the leg. Fa-ni said you'd get mad at her and me, so Kya healed it before you returned from baking pineapple bread."

Just then there was a crack and a yelp and Huifan fell on her left hip. Rikuto snapped her ankle with an angled jut of rock out of the ground just as she lifted her right leg to kick.

"Yes! Does this mean I win?" Rikuto asked, turning to their grandma who was acting as referee. Just then a rock hit him in the back of the head, but not hard enough to knock him out, but enough for him to notice and whirl around and see Huifan standing on one strong right leg.

"I can do without!" the prodigy said with a devilish grin. She dropped onto her hands and shoulders, spinning like Izumi did when she sparred Huifan back in the day, kicking up dirt, pebbles and small rocks into a swirling tornado of sorts. She chased Rikuto around the arena hobbling on one leg until Rikuto tripped on someone's gym bag and fell over and she jumped on him, knocking the air out of his body with a satisfied grin.

"I WIN, GRANNY!" Huifan yelled, looking up at Toph for approval as everyone laughed.

"I told you she wouldn't kill him, Zumi!" Toph said with a holey grin.

"Alright, I believe you," Izumi sighed, forcing a smile.

"So who's going next?" Meelo asked.

"Saru, Agni Kai?" Izumi asked, unfolding her arms with a shrug. There were two things that Izumi found relaxing, meditating, and firebending; and kicking Saru's ass was always very high on the list of things that made her happy.

"Are you going to chi block me?" Masaru asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"I did that ONCE! ONCE Saru, and with good reason!" Izumi replied.

"What was it?"

"The Fire Sages wanted to take my only daughter away to be trained by some warlord. I protested. They called me weak, young, and inexperienced. So father hosted a tournament so I could prove my proficiency in firebending, and you were the only one who ALMOST beat me!"

"Almost? I DID beat you!"

"You backhanded me!"

"AFTER you chi-blocked me!"

"You still—"

"It's over now! Just go to the other end of the ring and we'll settle this once and for all, my sweet temperamental lady." Masaru ordered pointing.

"I'm not a lady, I'm a **_LORD_**!" Izumi grumbled kicking a bamboo stick off the ring. "As you never fail to remind me!"

"I think it's cute when he tells her what to do," Rikuto said to Hungjian as he drank some water and poured some on his head to cool down.

"I think it's cute when anyone tells your mother what to do," Hungjian replied.

Izumi bent low and did a sweeping arch kick creating a wall of blue fire, sustaining it. She then wrapped it like a giant fabric around Masaru. He broke through it with a red sphere and she flew out of the sky in a mass of blue fire and white lightning. He rolled to the side and sent a few monstrous jabs her way that she intercepted and pierced with her own first blasts.

"Mom doesn't fight us like that," Tatsuya whimpered jealousy.

"She doesn't think we can handle it," Tetsuya replied, smiling.

"I don't think I've seen that kind of fire power since Sozin's comet seventy five years ago," Katara said to Toph. "When Zuko fought Azula with the celestially-enhanced bending."

"These two know their own elements better than anyone in the world," Toph replied proudly.

Masaru and Izumi reached a stalemate. The blue and the red met in the middle, fighting for dominance over the other. Masaru's back was towards the children, Izumi's towards a wall. All of their energy went into the flame. Sweat beaded on both of their bodies.

"They're strong," Katara commented.

"You have no idea," Toph replied, having seen things in the swamp throughout the years that nobody else would believe.

The ground splintered. Saru's leg slipped but he kept his grip on his fire blast.

"Is it just me or are they burning up all of the oxygen in the room?" Xiaoyu asked, starting to wheeze, worried.

"I got you," Jiexue said, creating a bubble around herself and her cousins and siblings.

Lightning broke free from the flames and cracked the walls. Both Izumi and Masaru watched as the energy started destroying things. Still, neither let go.

Finally, there was the sound of an explosion and Izumi was thrown up and back against the opposite wall. She fell and rolled onto all fours.

"I FORFEIT!" she gasped, panting on the ground.

"Forfeit? I didn't know 'forfeit' was in a Fire Lord's vocabulary," a newcomer said with mild amusement. Izumi turned to come face to face with a white haired ancient with a burn mark on his face.

"Father!" she exclaimed, jumping into his arms.

"Uncle!" Masaru ran over and threw his arms around Izumi and Zuko.

"Sparky came!" Toph yelled, walking over slowly with Katara.

"I wouldn't miss my own daughter's wedding!" he explained, patting Izumi on the back. "You've been over-exerting yourself, my sweet girl," Zuko said, running his fingers through her still-blue-streaked hair.

"Oh, sorry!" Izumi said blushing. It turned grey again.

"Mother, what is it that makes your hair change?" Rikuto asked, dabbing his neck with a wet cloth.

"Nothing that you need to worry about," Izumi replied quickly, changing the subject. "Father, how has the Jasmine Dragon been doing?"

"Great, thank you for asking, Zumi!" Zuko responded positively.

 _Show interest!_ Izumi reminded herself. _And don't shut them down._ Izumi turned back to Rikuto who appeared to have already forgotten his question and was deep in conversation with Wing and Wei about building a power disc court in the castle and playing with Hungjian and Huifan later. Maybe she should have answered him. But her inner fire was a potentially dangerous power even she was still trying to understand and control that her family successfully kept hidden for decades, but she was breaking and more and more family members were noticing.

"Okay everybody! Family feast in the Dragon Ballroom tomorrow for lunch, then Lees will be taking dinner in the Cherry Blossom Galley, Kuto, if you're going to play power disk with your cousins, please bathe before attending," Masaru added to his earthbending son.

"Sure thing, Father!" Rikuto said, waving a hand.

* * *

"Knock knock," came a vaguely familiar voice through Miyoko's door the next morning.

"Who is it?" Miyoko called from her desk.

"Your Aunt Kya. May I come in, Sweetie?" Kya asked kindly. "I'm alone," the waterbender added just in case the girl was still angry about yesterday.

"Yes you may, and thank you for knocking," Miyoko said, setting her pen down.

"Does your mother not knock?" Kya asked curiously, standing behind Miyoko waiting patiently, giving the girl time to warm up to her presence.

"Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't," Miyoko shrugged. She didn't seem bothered by it. "You see, she grew up without doors to her room. The authorities claimed it was a safety precaution. No one could sneak in through the window and trap her there. Really it was just so Grandma Mai and Iliana could come and go as they pleased. Mother has since installed doors on all of our rooms to give us some semblance of privacy, but I can tell it's hard for her to remember that when she comes to visit."

"I remember meeting your mother when I was twelve. She was thirteen when she came to Air Temple Island for the first time. She was so quiet,maybe even timid. My mother later told me that Aunt Mai brought her because she was worried because your mother never smiled, the poor thing!"

"Why?" Miyoko asked, intrigued, having never heard the story of her mother's first time on Air Temple Island.

"My guess, the posture correction corsets they had her wearing. That and the incessant demand for formalities and perfection. Could you imagine it? Someone younger than Jinora bowing to an insignificant, even younger girl like me!"

"You're not insignificant, Aunt Kya. You're the Avatar's daughter," Miyoko replied, reminding Kya of her status in the world.

"But I was still _just_ a girl. I didn't ask for fame or glory when I was born. I didn't ask for status or a legacy to uphold. I took my time to play and grow and stepped up when I could, but I still lived my own life. You can too. Whether or not you become a princess shouldn't change you, Miyoko. You're still just a girl. But you're also the Fire Lord's daughter and that will never change. It's who you are," Kya said.

Miyoko considered it for a minute.

"You're right," she sighed. "Was that the only reason you came here? To try to change my mind?" Miyoko asked.

"No," Kya laughed. "I wanted to check on that burn you got yesterday. How is it feeling?" Kya asked nodding to the wound on Miyoko's abdomen.

"Still tender," Miyoko replied coming over and lifting her arm for the healer to see. Kya worked the water around it for a few minutes loosening some of the scar tissue and taking away some of the scab and healing the raw flesh underneath.

"Do you always leave your midriff uncovered?" Kya asked, noting the girl's style. She liked halter tops and long skirts and leaving her flat stomach exposed.

"Not in the South Pole," Miyoko replied. "But here, it's just so hot!"

"You've been to the South Pole?" Kya asked, truly surprised that such a sheltered girl had been so far from home.

"Once, when I was nine. I didn't understand legitimacy then. Mother was so busy dealing with the tribes. I thought, since she was a princess, and I was her daughter, then I was a princess too and could help her. I thought I could handle the Southern Tribe while she went to the North and we could go at the same time so when we returned to the Fire Nation we could relax for half of the original time allocated to the diplomatic ventures," Miyoko explained.

"What happened when she found out?" Kya asked.

"I'm not sure she ever did," Yoko confessed.

Kya's brows furrowed. "Didn't anybody here notice you were gone?"

"I had Grandma Mai's blessing. She's the best alibi and made sure no one came looking for me."

"So what did you do in the South Pole?"

"First, I got into my mother's notes and to-do list and took some stuff off of it. I got to meet Varrick and Zhu Li AND the Southern Water Tribe's equivalent of a Defense Minister and negotiate the sale of a dozen decommissioned empire class battleships-"

"You're SURE she didn't notice?" Kya said disbelievingly.

"Come to think of it, she was at odds with grandmother for a few weeks after that, but she never did speak to me about it. And Grandmother never did approve of my requests to go again," Miyoko thought pensively.

"You really are something else, Yoko," Kya laughed, amused.

"What? I'm surprised Huifan didn't sneak out to try to help with Amon or Kuvira."

"I guess she figured the easiest way to put her mother's mind at ease was by following orders and staying safe." Kya mused thoughtfully.

"I didn't want to put my mother's mind at ease. I wanted my mother WITH me," Miyoko explained.

"Don't we all?" Kya said, stowing away the water and wrapping her arms around the young Fire Nation lady.

"I know it was selfish of me," Miyoko said sadly.

"No. It's not. We all want time with our mothers. Hell, I moved my whole life to the South Pole after my father passed for more time with my mother before—you know what I mean."

"Aunt Kya?" Miyoko asked, leaning her head on her aunt's breast. The fabric was softer than her mother's leather ceremonial armor.

"Yes?"

"Do you have any secrets we don't know about?" Miyoko asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Having secret children seems to be an omnipresent thing among the company you keep."

Kya laughed. "I don't, Yoko. Don't worry."

"What if I told you seismic sense wasn't the only way to tell if someone's lying?"

"I'd say you're bluffing," Kya chuckled, stroking her hair.

Miyoko smiled sweetly. "I am, but most people get intimidated and start spilling everything before I even have the chance to ask a follow up question."

"It's a clever tactic." Kya commented.

"Mhm," Miyoko closed her eyes and just sat in Kya's arms for a long while, just feeling the warmth of another body, listening to the waterbending master's heartbeat.

"You get lonely," Kya realized. It wasn't a question.

"You have no idea," Miyoko whispered, sniffling.

Kya felt bad for Miyoko. She was the baby of the family, and by Kya's guesses an unplanned baby at that. It must have been so hard on the girl getting lost in the shuffle. Thank the Spirits she wasn't the baby of the family.

Izumi's youngest daughter sighed, not sure what else to say. As the daughter of Masaru Lee, everyone assumed that she had been spoiled rotten, yet that could not have been further from the truth. Sure, all of her needs were addressed and then some, but she never saw her mother. Her mother had been older when she had given birth to her; however, since Izumi concealed her daughter's existence the Fire Nation ministers, generals, and Sages all kept the Crown Princess busy as they assumed all her children were grown. As such, Miyoko lived hidden away from everyone. Even in her own home she hid from the palace guards, having to climb through ventilation shafts just to see her mother. Everyone had been aghast that Lin had hidden six children away from the world, but they had been as free as ring-tailed flying lemurs compared to her. Everyone probably assumed Miyoko must have been spoiled, but by that age, nobody expected the crown princess to have a young child, so they kept Izumi busy. Miyoko lived hidden. Even in her own home she had to hide from the guards, climb through the vents just to see her parents. She was an even bigger secret that Lin's six children.

After a few minutes of silence, with Miyoko and Kya's hearts beating in time, the young lady stood abruptly. "I'm sorry for keeping you so long. It was selfish of me," Miyoko said finally, wiping away any evidence of any hurt or pain and quickly returning to her desk where she sat as rigid as Izumi was when Kya first met current Fire Lord.

"Don't apologize for being human and having basic needs," Kya said, walking over and wrapping her arms around the young lady, surprising her. "You needed a hug, and I love giving them," Kya explained. She ran her hand through Miyoko's hair and kissed the top of her head before heading to the door, sensing the girl was done with her.

"Where will you go?" Miyoko asked turning.

"To make sure the Beifong sisters don't kill the ugly turtle-duckling."

Miyoko laughed. "Is that what you're calling my mother since she's marrying in?"

"Maybe," Kya snickered. "Are you going to stay here?"

"Most likely," Miyoko replied.

"Okay, well when you're hungry there's a feast happening for everyone at lunch in the Dragon Ballroom." Kya said, a reassuring smile on her lips.

"Thank you, but I'll probably just raid the kitchens later. I'm used to dining alone."

"Well you won't have that option just this evening. I heard a rumor of a mandatory engagement in the Cherry Blossom Galley for all of the Lees," Kya said conspiratorially.

"Great, I suppose I'll have to go then," Miyoko muttered, smiling at Kya. "Thank you for coming and checking up on me."

"Any time. My home base has been…I don't know what it's called, but the creepy guys dressed in black with the amber armbands—"

"The Amber League," Yoko said reflexively.

"They seem to know where everybody is at all times so."

"That is true, if I need you, they'll come looking."

"Have a nice day, Miyoko!"

"And you, Aunt Kya!"

* * *

 **A/N**

 _Yes, the flashbacks are almost identical to some of the events in Chapter 28: Illegitimacy but shortened how someone would remember such a thing with not as much vividness after so many years._

 _And thanks to MusicPlayer81 for helping not only on my fanfic but the Wikia pages that exist for Fanon:Izumi, Fanon:Masaru Lee, and Fanon:Miyoko Lee._


	38. 2,8 Cherry Blossom Galley

**Chapter 8: Cherry Blossom Galley**

* * *

The Cherry Blossom Galley was one of the brighter rooms in the Palace. It was one of Fire Lady Illah's additions during Sozin's reign and was absolutely stunning. The walls were covered in a paper with cherry blossom trees painted in it making it look look like one were dining in an orchid. One of the three walls were made of windows from the floor to the ceiling with double doors that opened up to a large balcony with two cherry blossom trees in planter boxes, each with a bench underneath for someone to go out to enjoy the breeze on the balcony overlooking the expansive gardens of the palace.

Masaru was the first to arrive and found the staff still setting the table.

"Would you like any drinks sir, while you wait?" one of the attendants asked the owner of Earthen Fire Refineries.

"No thank you, I'll hold off until everyone arrives," Masaru replied politely, walking out to the balcony. In the distance, he saw a brand new power disk arena had been set into one of the stone courtyards. He could hear Suyin's twins battling Huifan and Hungjian. It felt nice to have the space to accommodate everybody; while he easily host everyone at his estate, Izumi needed to be at the Palace. She couldn't "get away" easily, and he would follow her anywhere she needed him to.

"How have you been, Uncle Saru?" A familiar voice asked.

"Iroh!" Masaru clapped the man on the back. "How has the United Forces been treating you?"

"Well enough. Got my own army of about ten thousand men. Sent a couple of regiments to the Si Wong Desert last week to assist the Earth Kingdom Army with shutting down another black market trade route. I swear, Uncle, every time we break one up, a new one arises just a few miles away."

Masaru chuckled. "That's how it happens. As my mother used to say, though the names may change, the streets always stay the same."

"She couldn't be more right," Iroh said, smiling.

"Did you just get in?"

"This afternoon, but I've been held up at the Naval base until just now. My handler told me the dinner was mandatory so-"

"Not mandatory, but we wanted to get all of you kids together for a family dinner."

"Really?" Iroh's eyes lit up. "Everybody? Kuto and Suke and the others?"

"Yes!"

"Sweet! Wait! Did you tell Ursa yet?"

"She…. kind of found out from Huifan."

"Oh no," Iroh grimaced. His sister was possibly one of the most inflexible people he had ever met; to find out that her mother possessed an entirely different family must have thrown her for a loop, to put it mildly.

"We'll try to talk things out this evening and hopefully have some proper introductions," Masaru explained.

"How is Mother faring with everything?"

"Well enough. She actually took a week off from work and left Kei-Lo in charge so she can spend time with everybody. You know, my sisters are here too with their families."

"Lin and Su? Damn, Uncle! It must be absolute chaos in the family right now with so many Beifongs!"

"Only in the training room. Fortunately the palace is big enough to not notice the havoc the cousins are wreaking."

Iroh laughed. "This is going to be a VERY interesting week."

"Heh, yeah," Masaru said.

"Iroh!" a voice behind them called.

"Suke!" Iroh turned and clapped hands with the lawyer before leaning in for a half-hug and a pat on the back.

"Iroh!"

"Kuto!" Iroh said doing the same to the earthbender who entered. Iroh looked up to see two new men he'd never seen before. "You must be the twins!" Iroh said positively.

"Tetsuya, my Prince," the one with free hair said, bowing.

"Tatsuya, my Prince," the one with the ponytail added, also bowing.

"Cut the formalities, we're brothers!" Iroh said embracing them both at the same time. "Your names sound so familiar. Amber League?" Iroh asked.

They both smiled. "You're well read on internal affairs for a foreign general," Tetsuya commented with a smirk.

"Was that meant to be an insult?" Iroh asked. "I may be a foreign general, but I am also the Crown Prince of this nation! Of course I know the structure and leadership of the Amber League!"

"Of course you do," Tetsuya nodded.

"Iroh, you're here!" a girl said with surprise.

"Ursa! Sister!" Iroh ran up to her sister, enveloping her in a bone-crushing hug.

"Uh… Bro, I can't breathe," Ursa grumbled through his jacket patting him on the back.

"Oh! Right, sorry. I just missed you sooooooo much!" Iroh exclaimed, releasing her.

"Uncle Saru, do we have assigned seating?" Iroh asked with one arm protectively around his sister.

"Nope! Sit wherever," Masaru replied from the balcony, walking in.

"Here, I'll sit next to you," Iroh said, pulling out a chair for his sister as everyone else sat down.

"Sorry for being… almost late," a sweet voice called, glancing quickly at a clock on the wall.

Iroh stood to see a young lady drop to one knee.

"Prince Iroh!" she addressed him.

"Uncle, why are all of your children bowing to me?" Iroh asked, turning to Masaru.

"They know their place," Masaru replied. "Until they're legitimized, they must show the proper respect to people of your standing."

"It's sad don't you think," Iroh asked Ursa.

Ursa averted her gaze.

Iroh shrugged it off and turned back to the young lady. "Please rise, and tell me your name, sister."

"Miyoko," the girl said, standing. He noticed the wound on her side immediately.

"You've been hurt! When did that happen?" Iroh exclaimed, motioning to it.

"It's nothing!" Miyoko mumbled, quickly covering it with her hand and hurrying to the other side of the table to sit between Tetsuya and Rikuto.

"So you haven't met everyone either?" Ursa asked Iroh as he sat down.

"Not the twins or Miyoko." Iroh replied, pulling his chair in and placing a napkin in his lap.

"Had you heard of them?" Ursa added.

"I had my suspicions but never pressed. I was so busy at boot camp, that it almost didn't matter. As long as Mother and Uncle were happy, I was happy," Iroh replied. "Speaking of mother, where is she?" Iroh asked, turning expectantly to Masaru.

"Right here, sorry! Fell asleep meditating," Izumi replied, hurrying in. Rikuto snorted, accidentally spilling his drink.

"Just in time!" Takeo commented.

"With a minute to spare!" Sasuke added.

"Wait! Where's Taemon?" Izumi asked quickly scanning the table.

"Sorry! I confess it. I forgot completely!" the handsome adopted son of Masaru and Izumi said, rushing in to take a seat between Tatsuya and Izumi towards the end of the table.

Izumi and Saru both stood, looked around at each other and then sat down. Izumi glanced at Miyoko and then Ursa, and let out a sigh of relief that they both came.

"Mother, what's troubling you?" Iroh asked as the servers placed the first dish out for everyone to taste.

"Yeah! I don't think I've ever seen you this unhappy, Ma." Rikuto said shoving the entire seaweed wrapped ball of roe in his mouth, making Izumi instantly regret letting Toph take over his training from the age of ten. His table manners were nonexistent.

Miyoko thought the same thing, raising an eyebrow at the grown man's full mouth and empty plate while nobody else had yet to touch their first course.

"Oh I have, it was not fun!" Iroh said.

"Was it the time she found out the Minister of Finance almost lost a third of the national treasury?" Takeo asked before picking one of the large eggs up with his chopsticks and slipping it into his mouth after finishing his sentence.

"It was worse than that, but that definitely was a moment. I swear she was going to exile his family back three generations and acquiesce all of his lands and properties to replenish the supply!" Iroh laughed, taking his first bite.

"That's not funny!" Miyoko growled. The table fell silent. "That is an abuse of power."

"Abuse of power? Spending national funds to gamble on probending is an abuse of power. Those funds were supposed to go to things like your precious university," Ursa shot back.

"Excuse me? A significant amount of the funds come from alumni!" Yoko shot back.

"For someone so well educated, it is shocking to not know that's a lie! 89% of the funds come from the national treasury, from Mother!" Ursa replied, her voice raising.

"She's partially right about that. The portion of funds went up to 93% when you started attending," Tetsuya added, quietly taking a sip of cactus juice.

"Really?" Miyoko asked. _Mother would do that for me?_

"Enough! Can we just not talk about politics or the past for the time being and just focus on the present?" Izumi asked, her head pounding.

"What's wrong, Mum?" Rikuto asked.

"I'm just a little anxious, I guess. It's always been a dream of mine to be able to bring you all together, but-it's just not at all how I imagined it," Izumi confessed.

"Sorry we're not all perfect," Miyoko muttered, looking sideways at Ursa.

"Excuse me?!" Ursa yelled, standing up staring straight at Miyoko.

"Will you two QUIT IT?!" Izumi yelled standing up, cracking a blue fire whip across the table, her hair streaking blue for an instant. Ursa fell back into her seat.

"Zumi, go to bed." Masaru ordered low and sternly.

"What?" Izumi asked looking up at him. All of their children turned to him looking just as appalled that he had the gall to give the Fire Lord, the highest authority in their country a direct order that a parent would give a child.

"You heard correctly, Izumi. Go to bed. You're done here," Masaru replied finishing his last egg and dabbing his mouth gently.

Izumi took one last look at him, and their children and swept out, pink skirts swirling around her.

"But she barely made it past the first course," Rikuto said sadly. "Father, what if she starves?" Rikuto asked.

"She'll probably raid the kitchens on her way to her room," Masaru replied taking a sip of wine.

"I wish I could just raid the kitchen and go to bed." Miyoko added.

Masaru pretended not to hear.

"Uncle, did you just-" Iroh began to ask.

"-Send the most powerful woman in the Fire Nation to bed? Yes. I don't mean to guilt you, but your recent behavior has been breaking your dear mother," Masaru said to the girls. Out of the corner of his eye, Masaru saw Tetsuya and Taemon exchange a glance that he didn't like at all, but didn't have the time to deal with it then. "I know you're mad at her for keeping her secrets, but can you at least try to put yourself in her shoes? She grew up spending at least half of every day in misery, being controlled down to the last fifteen second mark. She's done everything she could to try to recover her own happiness and provide all of you with your own-"

"Then why doesn't she just do that? We were happy before we knew each other existed," Ursa asked.

"And before we had the prospect of being crowned princes looming over our heads," the twins muttered.

"Speak for yourself. You didn't grow up having to crawl through grates to see Mother," Miyoko mumbled.

"Are you saying you want to be crowned?" Ursa asked.

"No, that is by far the worst that could happen, but I wouldn't mind not having to live in the shadows," Miyoko replied.

"Then why doesn't mother let you run free? Why does there have to be any ceremony? Any name change or coronation? If Mother has absolute rule as of now, why can't she just give her middle finger to the world and do us do what we want without wearing crowns, or becoming world-renowned?" Taemon asked shrugging.

"Maybe because organizations like Miyoko's threaten that absolute rule if Mother dares to do anything remotely personal."

"We're not that extreme!" Miyoko yelled.

"Oh really? I had Genkei sift through the archives for me. I know all about your various escapades waving signs calling for her HEAD!" Ursa shrieked.

"My Mother and the Fire Lord are SEPARATE entities-"

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Ursa growled. "You're nothing but a traitor!"

"A traitor and a dissident are two completely different things!"

"Enough, you two!" Masaru yelled. "Your lives have been easy but you must respect your mother's decision and play your role in this family by acknowledging that you're a part of it whether you like it or not—"

"Isn't that how Grandfather and the Grandmother and the Fire Sages justified mother's marriage to our father?" Iroh asked.

"And put us all in this difficult situation? So that SHE could play her part in her family at the expense of the next generation?" Ursa asked.

"Ursa-" Masaru sighed, rubbing his head.

"Don't try to lecture me on family! You're not my father and I will not be cast aside-"

"You're not being cast aside! The hierarchy states-" Sasuke began to say logically like the analytical lawyer he was.

"According to Genkei, you don't even WANT to be Fire Lord!" Miyoko interrupted.

"And you do?"

"No! I thought Takeo—"

"Woah!" Takeo put his hands up. "Don't bring me into this!"

"Guys! No one wants to be Fire Lord, face it! It's probably the second shittiest job in the world-" Rikuto interjected, shoving an entire dumpling into his mouth.

"What's the first?" Sasuke asked.

"Chief Of Police Of Republic City. Grandma's told me all about the bureaucracy and now, the Chief has to deal with a city council AND a president of the URN," Rikuto answered.

"Spirits bless my poor sister," Masaru muttered. He had dealt with the old council, and the last president a few times regarding business contracts in the URN. Those meeting ranked amongst the worst he ever had to attend, and that was saying something.

"Well Mom has to deal with the council of generals AND the council of ministers," Miyoko opposed.

"But Mom can veto their proposals. She's not just a soldier," Rikuto replied, raising his glass.

"For someone who grew up naked in a swamp, you're awfully educated!" Miyoko said suspiciously.

"For someone who is attending university, you're awfully not," Rikuto said with his elbow on the table, leaning forward smugly.

Miyoko stood and lit a hand ablaze with red fire.

Rikuto metalbent a knife into a strip around her wrist pinning her to the wall behind her.

"No bending at the table! You're all legal adults and yet you're acting like children now that you're together!" Masaru groaned.

"So do you and your friends even though you're like in your fifties and sixties!"

Masaru could see why Izumi was greying and it definitely wasn't a result of the daily politics. He barely resisted the urge to drink the entire bottle of cactus juice in front of him.

"You know what?" Masaru yelled over all of them. "See this?" He pulled a necklace out of his coat and tore it right off his throat. "The unless you have it, you're not talking. You're all going to tell me why you are or are not opposed to being publicly recognized as part of this family. Who is first?" Masaru asked.

"Me!" Rikuto called. Masaru tossed him the heavy necklace. The crimson ribbon flying across the room.

"Oooohhh! Nice alloy! I love titanium with chrome and gold plating!" the only earth and metalbender in the fire family said, testing its balance.

"Please just answer the question Kuto," Masaru said impatiently.

"I want to be legitimized. I think it would be a good stick in the eye for all those racist extremists who wanted Ma to marry a pure-blooded fire boy. The world is evolving and other nations have become more accepting of other races living among them. If they see the Fire Lord being as accepting, maybe they will be more inspired to do the same!" Rikuto said.

"May I respond to that?" Tetsuya asked.

"Sure, brother," Rikuto said, throwing the medallion.

The twin of Tatsuya caught it. "You say that the Fire Lord tolerated your presence, but you don't tolerate hers so I don't understand the statement you're trying to make to the extremists. You ran away when you were ten and revoked your citizenship to live life as a hermit in a cave with your grandmother. You're just as much a traitor as the original Iroh was," Tetsuya replied.

"Which is to say, I wasn't one," Rikuto responded.

"Tetsuya! We do not call family members traitors! Rikuto went through a phase, as we all have might I add, but he's back now," Masaru scolded him.

Tetsuya frowned and looked the other way.

"May I give my thoughts on the original question?" Iroh asked.

"Sure," Tetsuya passed on the medallion.

"I'm all for all of you being legitimized and becoming heirs to the throne so that I can remain general of the United forces for similar reasons of Rikuto. I want to show the nationalists and the rest of the world that we **ARE** tolerant of other nationalities and can coexist by continuing to lead armies of soldiers from all nations. It's reassuring and incredibly beneficial to world balance and peace," Iroh said.

Ursa took the medal from him.

Masaru frowned. "No stealing, Ursa."

"You're not my father; you don't get to tell me what to do," Ursa replied. She turned her attention to her brother. "So you're afraid of taking on more responsibility in leading a nation and want to push it all off on somebody else?"

"I'm not afraid of anything!" Iroh replied.

"Oh come on. We all know that's a lie," Takeo said light heartedly.

"Please stay focused just for this evening and remember the medal," Masaru asked.

"Sorry, Father-" Takeo said sitting back.

"Ursa, why don't you just say what's on your mind?"

"What's on my mind?" She scoffed. "I feel betrayed! I feel betrayed by my own mother, AND YOU!" She added to Iroh. "You knew about them and Takeo, Rikuto, and Sasuke and LIED TO ME all this time!"

"I didn't lie! They just never came up when we were together. I didn't know you didn't know-" Iroh replied.

Ursa ignored him and turned to Masaru. "I trusted you, Uncle Saru! And you've been FUCKING HER FOR DECADES BEFORE AND AFTER I WAS BORN! HOW COULD YOU?"

"I had to!—" Masaru replied.

"Really? You had to commit adultery?!"

"He had to because the Fire Sages needed Mother to have another child and Hisoki bolted!" Iroh said, the words rushing out.

Ursa stared at her brother. "What are you talking about?"

"Mother has a miscarriage when she was twenty-three and **_your_** beloved father **_bolted_** right after blaming her for everything! He told her she overexerted herself by simply fulfilling her duties as Princess as the Fire Nation and accompanying him on a political campaign all over the Fire Islands and he left. Nobody knows where he went! Grandmother sent spies at first, then once recovered, Mother joined the search, spending an entire year scouring the world under cover only to also turned up nothing. Hisoki Ibonara returned twelve years later with the intent on killing the entire Royal Family save for Iroh whom he intended to groom to do his bidding while serving as regent until Iroh came of age!" Miyoko exclaimed. "Fortunately, mother killed him that first night and saved everybody—"

"What? No! Assassins attacked them! The official records—," Ursa gasped.

"Are lies!" Miyoko yelled. "Fire Lady Mai wrote them to protect Mother's honor until the time came when she had the strength and authority to defend it herself!"

"You're lying!" Ursa screeched. "And it must have been a well rehearsed story— your organization should be proud!"

"I'm not lying!" Miyoko insisted.

"Then how did **_you_** of all people find out? Mother never told me about having a miscarriage!" Ursa said accusingly.

"I broke into Fire Lord Zuko's records when I was sixteen! There, I confess it! My organization was conducting a reconnaissance raid on the palace. I offered to go instead so that I could control what information they got access to. I wanted to protect all of you from whatever the higher ups of my organization intended to do. Looking back, maybe I **_should_** have let them destroy you," Miyoko growled.

"Why would you do such a thing?" Ursa asked.

"Because even though I didn't ask to be born into this fucked up family, I still did everything I can to look out for you AND my Nation's freedom! I live here too!"

"Well I don't believe you! You're still just a traitor to me!"

"Then banish me, Princess!" Miyoko said, bowing mockingly. "I'll gladly leave now knowing I have other family who would never reject me!"

Ursa glared at her, considering it.

"Ursa," Masaru said warningly.

"Until Mother makes her decision, I still outrank all of you, so do not try to command me to do anything!" Ursa said directly to Masaru before storming out of the room.

"I don't want to hear anymore, Uncle Saru," Iroh said, looking down miserably.

"Sorry to break that image of your imaginary perfect family," Miyoko said, sitting down.

"I'm not hungry anymore, father, may I go?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, me too," Rikuto added.

"Of course," Masaru said, sitting back and running his fingers through his still black hair. He waited for all of the children to meander from the hall and the servants to carry everything away, thanking them for coming before leaving to check on Izumi.

* * *

"How things go? Why did you send me away?" Izumi asked rolling over in bed.

"Because you were losing control," he said touching her hair.

"Oh, right," she said groggily. "Well, how did dinner go?"

"Not well. Miyoko knows you killed Hisoki, and she told everybody-"

Izumi rolled over and sat up in shock. "How?"

"Her club organized an infiltration of the palace. She offered to go to protect them from getting potentially harmful information and found records of the cover up in your father's office," Masaru replied.

"Spirits!" Izumi laid back, covering her eyes. "Ursa will never forgive me. She thinks he's some brave noblemen who loved me."

"Why didn't you ever tell her otherwise?"

"I didn't want to hurt her," Izumi replied.

"Why? He raped you daily until you found out you were pregnant with Iroh. Hell, he even raped you to get you pregnant with her!"

"Hisoki had to, the Fire Sages made him," Izumi rubbed her head. "I just didn't want to crush Ursa's dreams. I didn't think she missed him that much, considering she never met him. I didn't want her to grow up hating someone she would be fortunate enough to never meet. I wanted to keep her happy." Izumi replied.

"Oh Zumi," Masaru said sitting on the bed, pulling her into his arms and holding her.

"I feel like I've done everything wrong! With all of them! Trying to protect them from all of my pains has only led them to hate me. I'm such a terrible mother!"

"You're not! And don't ever say such a thing, Izumi! You're an amazing mother! But keeping up with so many kids is hard. Don't be so mean to my beautiful lady, please," he said, brushing her bangs out of her face.

She looked up at him and began to cry.

"Just be honest with them about how you're feeling," he said soothingly.

"How?"

"By just answering their questions honestly. They should be able to handle it now," he said, watching her hair change slightly.

He touched it to remind her to breathe again.


	39. 2,9 Earth and Fire

**Chapter 9: Earth and Fire**

* * *

 **Earthen Hall, Fire Nation Royal Palace**

The Earthen Hall was a medium sized dining hall decorated in Earth Kingdom colors with massive paintings of badgermoles and mountains and caves, originally constructed to host Earth Kingdom Diplomats. For the duration of the 'vacation' leading up to the wedding, it hosted the breakfast and lunch buffets as well as the more formal dinner feasts for Suyin and Lin's branches of the Beifong Family. Scattered throughout the hall were tables boasting pots of rice and noodles, and dozens of bowls with all sorts of toppings and meats both locally grown and imported from all over the Fire Nation.

At one table, Wing, Wei, and Hungjian, bonded with Rikuto seamlessly. The extremely athletic and skilled earthbenders engaged in a rather boisterous discussion about who would win the power disc tournament that day while Meelo and Kang watched, completely enraptured with their energy.

"Nah, son! You and the Lava Prince don't stand a chance against us. We're like the same person! Our brains are connected telepathically-" Wing exclaimed.

"That's your DISadvantage. Since you always think the exact same way, it will only be TOO easy to come up with something that neither of you could possibly anticipate!" Rikuto boasted, bending a pair of pebbles from behind Wing and Wei to hit them in the back of their heads.

"Hey!" they yelled as Kang and Meelo roared with laughter.

"Why do you even call him the Lava Prince when he can't even bend lava?" Huifan asked, pausing as she passed their table on her way down to get breakfast.

"Oh, and you can?" Rikuto asked, standing up.

 _He doesn't know anything about what went down in Republic City after they rebuilt the Northern Air Temple,_ Huifan realized. She kicked up a pebble behind her and spun it horizontally into a horizontal disk of lava, showing off, then cooled it and tossed the pebble to Rikuto.

"Psh!" he said, dropping the pebble, crushing it while simultaneously raising a rock the size of her head.

He crushed it, then bent it towards her face in a stream of lava. She bent backwards and swatted it aside, almost hitting Wing and Wei. They both leapt aside, letting the glob of lava fall on the table, lighting it on fire.

"Your fault!" Rikuto yelled.

"You attacked me first!" Huifan replied.

"You deflected!"

"What was I supposed to do?"

"Redirect it back!" Rikuto replied.

"It's lava, not lightning! You can't just—redirect it!"

"You can redirect anything! Just like jing…" Rikuto continued to argue

Kya shook her head and smiled as she entered the room to find a fire, and a child of Lin and Zumju arguing over presumably nothing of significance. It reminded her so much of her own youth on Air Temple Island every time Izumi visited. She and Bumi always knew how to rile a flame or a spark out of the ordinarily coy and poised young girl. It was always amusing when she got angry and subconsciously lit things on fire. The Princess always did pride herself on her self-control and became absolutely mortified whenever she lost that control. Kya was always ready for the flames around her, though Bumi always was very unpredictable.

The loving aunt just "happened" to pass by the table and suppress the flames with her waterbending before taking a seat at a table that hosted all her nieces. She could have sat with her brothers and sibling in-laws, but honestly, she found them FAR less interesting than the kiddos who, though pretty old, were still growing and changing so much as they explored their rapidly expanding world after decades of living _in isolation_.

Kya thought about how her parents, Lin's, Suyin, and Izumi's parents all had to work together to stop a war that had been going on for a century and rebuild a world and how they were forced to grow up and act like adults when they were barely even teenagers. _They endured so much and worked so hard, so that we wouldn't have to until we were grown. They gave us the childhood they were deprived of, and we are giving our children an even longer one._ The thought made Kya immensely happy; even though none of the children were her own, they were still one big, chaotic family.

"So, what is on the agenda for you guys today?" Kya asked the girls as she climbed onto the earthen benches that the earthbender made after deciding that having separate chairs kept them too far apart from each other.

"Well we were going to have a meditation session but then Dad and Uncle Bumi and Baatar got invited by Uncle Saru to tour the Headquarter Earthen Fire Facilities in the Fire Nation!" Ikki informed Kya cheerfully. "SOOOOOOO he won't be able to meditate with us again after breakfast!"

"We're supposed to have the discipline to meditate on our own!" Opal reminded Ikki.

"What Dad doesn't know won't hurt him," Jinora said with a smirk.

Kya gasped. "Good Master Jinora skipping out on meditation?!"

"Would you believe it? I was just as surprised! Who brainwashed my little sister?" Jiexue asked, nudging Jinora.

"I'm not brainwashed. Just Xiaoyu and I found Fire Lord Izumi has this INCREDIBLE collection of books on Air Nomad History that even Daddy doesn't have, and we wanted more time to read it!"

"Yeah! It puts Air Temple Island's Library to shame!" Xiaoyu added.

"How and why would the Fire Nation have such an extensive collection of Air Nomad Histories?" Opal asked.

"What if the collection is stolen from one of the Air Temples under Sozin's rule or something?" Jiexue suggested.

"If they were stolen, Fire Lord Izumi would have ordered them returned. She is good."

"What if she doesn't even know about them?"

"You never know what's true anymore I mean, who knew we had a cousin from that Fire Lady that could bend earth?" Jiexue motioned to Rikuto who was now juggling metal goblets without spilling the contents.

"She's a Fire **_Lord_** , not a lady," someone corrected Jiexue.

"URSA!" Opal, Xiaoyu and Jinora exclaimed with excitement.

Huifan and Ikki both heard from the boys table and rushed over. Ikki landed on her knees on the bench across from Ursa and reached across the table to pry open one of the princess's droopy eyes. "You look absolutely HORRIBLE! Did you not sleep last night? Were you crying?" Ikki demanded.

"IKKI! YOU DON'T TOUCH PEOPLE WHILE THEY'RE EATING!" Jinora yelled yanking her little sister back by the waistband.

"Just- don't touch people at all," Xiaoyu corrected with a condescending frown pointed at the eleven-year-old airbender girl.

"Let me guess, dinner didn't go well?" Huifan asked, sitting next to the Princess and draping an arm over her shoulders.

"Past three days didn't go well," Ursa responded, a headache already building up.

"Do you not like your brothers?" Opal asked with a mixture of concern and pity for the Princess.

"Kuto seems cool enough," Huifan said nodding at the man who was now arm-wrestling Wing and Wei at the same time.

"I don't care about the boys. They're all dumb and independent. But I have a SISTER and she's absolutely perfect! The most kind and poised young girl I have ever seen with perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect speech- Ugh!" Ursa exclaimed, throwing down her chopsticks in frustration. "She is the complete opposite of me; so polite, respectful and eager to please and everything Mother could ever want in a daughter-she even BOWED to ME the first time we met, and how do I repay her? By almost killing her with lightning without even thinking in a blind fit of rage! I am a terrible princess and a terrible firebender who lacks the necessary restraint to do anything right! No wonder Mother wants a different successor."

"I thought she wanted to choose a different successor because you didn't want to be Fire Lord and she didn't want to burden you," Huifan noted, perplexed.

"Yeah, and we don't know if this girl is even going to be chosen as the next Fire Lord," Opal added, trying to cheer up the Princess.

"She's not. It's going to be Takeo, the second oldest to Iroh. I guess I am just angry at myself more than anything. I HURT Miyoko when it was my mother who was the source of my anger. I barely even know my sister, and now she has to bear the scars of my mistakes for the rest of her life on her stupid little bare waist! She probably hates me now."

"Ursa, Miyoko doesn't hate you," Kya interrupted. "She doesn't hate anybody."

"How would you know? You barely just met her too!" Ursa asked miserably, looking up at the waterbender while Huifan rubbed her back.

"If you just talked to her, you'd know," Kya replied with a sympathetic smile.

"And don't worry about the scars, Princess."

Ursa turned over her shoulder and saw Lin Beifong standing over her, two faded marks maring her face from her jaw to nearly her eye.

"I have one too from when I sneaked up on Huifan in her sleep while she was still bitter and angry at our Dad for leaving," Jinora added leaning her forearms on the table so Ursa could see the scar that crossed her eye and cheek and even cast a white line across the arrow tattooed on her forehead.

"It may take time, but you'll work through it," Lin said, putting an arm around Suyin who came over and also placed a hand on the Princess's shoulder.

"Thank you, Aunt Lin," Ursa smiled.

"If you will excuse me, I need a word with the Princess," a member of the Amber League, and Izumi's personal guard said, standing behind Lin and Suyin. They parted, allowing the man to approach the princess.

"Your Mother requires your presence immediately. I am to escort you to her quarters. You most likely will not be available for the rest of the day," Genkei informed Ursa.

"I'm surprised she didn't summon me to the throne room," Ursa muttered irritably, standing up.

"Don't forget your breakfast!" Ikki said leaping over the table grabbing Ursa's bowl on the way, landing on an air scooter, riding it to be in front of the princess. While the child's energy was sometimes refreshing, other times it was INCREDIBLY irritating.

"Sorry, if I annoyed you earlier! I was just worried. Here, have at least the egg?" Ikki said shoving it into the Princess's mouth. "Protein is good for you!"

Ursa choked and almost tripped over herself before swallowing. Genkei instinctively pounded her on the back until she recovered and frowned at the young airbender but didn't reprimand herw.

Jinora and Xiaoyu both buried their faces in their hands with embarrassment. Huifan, Jiexue, Suyin and Lin laughed, Opal looked genuinely concerned for the Princess's wellbeing, and Kya just smiled.

"Thanks kid, but don't worry about me, okay?" Ursa said catching her breath. "I can always raid the kitchens later. That's where they hoard the best stuff anyways!" Ursa added in a whisper as if letting Ikki in on a secret.

"Really?" the eleven-year-old exclaimed.

"Maybe I can bring you later if I don't get locked in the dungeon for a day."

"Has that happened before?" Ikki asked, eyes wide with concern.

"Once, I threatened to kill my mother in jest and some passing guard overheard and arrested me, not realizing I was the Princess and threw me in the dungeons to rot," Ursa noted.

"Woah! That sounds sooooo cool!"

"Not when you're a fourteen-year-old kid."

"How long were you in there?"

"About a day."

"What did your mom do to the guard that threw you in there? Did she feed him to your dragons?"

"My mother is NOT like that. She just assigned him to a different part of the castle and demoted his ranking for being so foolish," Ursa replied.

"Awwww!"

"Speaking of your mother, it is not polite to keep her waiting," Genkei reminded the princess.

"You're all lucky your Mom is not the Fire Lord," Ursa mumbled to her friends.

"Actually, the Earth Queen can get pretty annoying," Opal confessed with a smirk. Suyin swatted her over the head, getting a laugh from the other girls before returning to the adults' table with Lin.

"Coming?" Suyin asked Kya.

"Probably not. You old people get almost as boring as Zumzu sometimes," Kya called.

Ursa laughed.

* * *

Ursa barely remembered being in her mother's quarters. She knows she used to sleep with her mother before she was six years old. The then princess didn't trust any of the staff except Iliana and Kei Lo with her daughter because the Fire Sages were constantly after her. They wanted a puppet to train to restore the empire. Fortunately, Ursa never really had that bloodlust or the iron fist they required in their ideal puppet.

Her mother lived in one of the grander apartments that she received when she married Hisoki. It was not the official quarters of the Fire Lord because Grandfather Zuko abdicated and didn't die and Izumi didn't feel like making the elderly man sleep somewhere unfamiliar when he did return to the palace to visit.

The spacious room was empty, the bed was already made, and there was no sign of life.

"Uh… Mother?" Ursa called tentatively.

"In here," Izumi said coming out of a secret passageway in the wall wearing a light pink wrap-around dress with a red sash and wide sleeves, with her hair completely down with no flames or decorations.

"Is there… an occasion?" Ursa asked suspiciously, seeing her mother in the plainest thing that Ursa had seen her mother wear in years that wasn't a nightgown.

"Yes," Izumi said striding over to a chest of drawers. "We're going out today. You, me, and Yoko," Izumi informed her older daughter as she opened the top drawer and pulled out a pair of fingerless gloves with several pockets and slots for concealed weapons. She pulled them up her bare arms and tightened them just below the elbow. Then she pulled on heavy leather wrist guards and buckled them onto her forearms, pulling each strap with her teeth. Finally, she pulled out knife after knife, dart after dart, shoving each into one of the many pockets in her sleeves.

"Where do you intend on taking us?" Ursa asked, leaning onto one foot with one hand on her hip and her head slightly tilted.

"Anywhere you want to go," Izumi replied, shoving the last knife, a retractable three-blade, six edged, heavy-handled thing into her boot.

"Can that be our respective rooms where we could do whatever we want in peace, quiet, and solitude without any of your cronies constantly interrupting?"

Ursa's head snapped to the side to see Miyoko standing beside her with her arms folded, looking just as displeased with their mother as she was.

"Preferably anywhere but the castle," Izumi said, pulling out a simple red-ribboned necklace with a pezzottaite stone in it and tied it around her neck. "This place is depressing."

"But…won't we be recognized?" Ursa asked raising a brow.

"Not if we dress down," Izumi replied, checking her subtle lip gloss. The girls glanced at each other.

"Maybe you could wear something of mine," Izumi suggested firebending into a nondescript place in the wall revealing her secret closet. She paused in the doorway.

"Would you like to come in?" She asked.

"I wouldn't expect the Fire Lord to know how to 'dress down'," Ursa muttered.

"You know, I DID have a life before marriage, children, and Lordship," Izumi reminded them sarcastically. _Just be honest. Be yourself,_ Masaru told her that morning.

"Mother, we've both been outside the palace. We know how to dress ourselves," Miyoko said impatiently.

"Well I haven't gotten to dress either of you since before you were six and I want to, so can't you just let me have it, just once?" Izumi asked.

The daughters glanced at each other again. Ursa shrugged. "As long as it's not hideous."

"My mother was Fire Lady Mai, daughter of two aristocratic assholes who only ever cared about their own image. Do you _really_ think she would let me even acquire anything hideous?" Izumi asked sarcastically.

The Fire Lord wouldn't speak ill of her family. The Fire Lord has no use for sarcasm. The Fire Lord has no need for feelings. The Fire Lord has no use for honesty.

This woman was not the Fire Lord. This woman was their mother sorely missing being a mother and wanting to dress her only two daughters.

"You don't just have Fire Nation clothes," Miyoko noted, browsing the collection. Ursa gasped. The prim and proper one may be polite in company, but like Izumi, was completely different in private. Here she was perusing the Fire Lord's Private collection as if it were a department store.

"Kya lent me these the first time we went to the North Pole together. We were alone. We had actually stolen Oogi from Tenzin while he was too busy snogging Lin to notice. It was so much fun—" Izumi said, motioning to a set of blue, fur-trimmed robes. "Father was livid— then again, he was always livid when I went anywhere without my guard without at least asking for clearance first. I simply found them annoying. I despised the publicity of being a princess. I despised a lot of things, but I liked going with Kya, and mother was happy for me because of her."

"Mother, was Aunt Kya your girlfriend or something?"

"You got into the photographs from the forbidden wing at Ember Island, didn't you?" Izumi asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yes," Ursa confessed, slumping and expecting a punishment.

Izumi laughed. "Kya was my first real friend other than Saru, my first best friend, and my first and only girlfriend."

"And then you married Hisoki and now you're marrying Saru?"

"It was complicated then. I was a curious girl who wanted to know about all of the crude stuff Bumi was constantly boasted about doing. I could ask Kya about anything and she'd explain without judging. Saru was fun when we were young, but when I was a teenager, he became too... caring. Prioritized protecting my reputation over making me happy and I hated that. Kya remained to me the nicest person in the world. She would hold me and listen to me rant, she would comfort me when my mother left me on Air Temple Island for months at a time. She taught me how to lose my escort and how to disguise myself in any country. She taught me how to kiss," Izumi laughed at it all. "And offered to teach me so much more, but I was too timid." Izumi pulled down two dresses and two pairs of pants. And laid them over chairs for her daughters then lit a crystal chandelier in the room, illuminating everything.

"Mother, why are you doing this?" Miyoko asked suspiciously as she pulled her crop top with the royal collar off over her head to change into her mother's selections. Ursa followed taking off her royal armor bit by painstaking bit.

"Doing what?" Izumi asked with her back to them, looking out a window at the end of the closet that overlooked the Capital to give them privacy.

"Spending time with us?" Miyoko asked, looking more hurt than anything.

Ursa thought that was odd. _Maybe the obvious? She is our mother and she loves us? Or claims she does._

"Because you both were born in a time where the world would not allow me to be the mother I wanted to be. You both were born to a Princess, not a Fire Lord, who had no power over her own life or body who had to bend to the demands of the Fire Sages, and the demands of the Nation. Still, I know that is no excuse for neglecting my own children. I failed to protect you and give you the attention you needed in your youth. I kept too many secrets from you and I wanted to try—to start to try to make up the lost time if you are willing to let me back into your life. I promise to answer as many questions about our family and our history as I am able and will make myself more available to provide guidance if you ask. You deserve the truth, and I'm sorry for withholding it from you for so long," Izumi responded.

Neither girl responded, too deep in thought. _How could the Crown Princess then have so little control and the Crown Princess now be able to travel alone without a care in the world?_ Ursa realized then that was all her mother's doing. The Fire Sages gone from the palace, authority restored to the royal family, the freedom of speech, the freedom for Yoko to make posters against the institution while living in the palace-that was all Mother's doing.

"Are you through changing yet?" Izumi asked in a more demanding, slightly impatient tone of a Fire Lord, after a few minutes.

"Yes, Mother," Ursa answered for both of them.

Izumi turned around and looked at their bewildered faces. Her own features softened as she gazed at them longingly, wanting no more than to hold them like when they were babies and shield them from the pain and pressure of the world for an eternity.

"Come on then, we can go to Fire Fountain City," Izumi suggested.

"But there's nothing to do there!" Ursa complained.

"And it's far," Miyoko added.

"Then where do you want to go?" Izumi asked.

"Why don't we go just outside the Capital? We could have a lunch in the harbor and then peruse the artisan street on our way to a theatre for an evening showing of something, maybe," Miyoko suggested.

Izumi turned to Ursa.

"That sounds fine with me," the Princess shrugged.

"Alright. We can take a Satomobile to the base of the volcano and then walk the rest of the way to the port."

* * *

"We're not bringing guards?" Ursa asked once they were situated in a Satomobile.

"My Father would have made me bring at least a dozen imperial guards for each of us, but he's not in charge anymore, so I don't have to. I've always found them more annoying than anything, and they draw attention," Izumi explained, seeing both daughters eyeing her strangely in the rear view mirror. "And I can protect you if you can't sufficiently protect yourselves, by now."

"It's not that it's just—" Ursa began to say, before stopping.

" _You're_ driving?" Miyoko asked making no effort to mask her displeasure.

Izumi sighed and lightly banged her head on the steering wheel with annoyance before pulling out of the underground parking garage. "It's like you guys think I have never left the throne room in my life and know nothing about the outside world!"

"Sorry," Miyoko apologized.

"I guess we just don't know you all that well either," Ursa commented, looking down with mixed feelings.

* * *

 **A/N**

 _Writing the breakfast scene was SO HARD because there are SO MANY Beifongs!_

 _And I am trying to work on character development with my OCs so any feedback on them is greatly appreciated. I don't know if you can tell, but I have been trying to make Izumi and Miyoko very similar to each other in that they are incredibly composed and level-headed in public, but alone are HELLA blunt and almost savage. Ursa is a little more... human? She acts more like Toph even though they share no blood relation._

 _And I think I really like writing mother-daughter dynamics (maybe because I love my mother A LOT and really miss her when I am away at school) and whenever I ask how she knows something that I thought only my generation was privy to, she rolls her eyes and reminds me "You know, I had a life before you." and then talks about how each generation isn't actually so different from the previous one despite how it may seem with all of the technological advances, new forms of entertainment and ever-changing social norms. We are really all the same... :)))_

 _As always, all feedback is greatly appreciated, and I hope you enjoy this story!_

 _~j_


	40. 2,10 Feel Heat

**Chapter 10: Feel Heat**

* * *

 **Royal Fire Nation Library**

The royal library spanned eight floors in the central column of the Fire Nation Royal Palace. The first floor sprawled out for what felt like miles and miles of aisles with archives of communications with the other nations and the former colonies. The floor up contained histories on the Southern Water Tribe, then the next two floors were histories on the northern water tribe, then the next three floors on the earth kingdom, and the top two floors were histories on the Air Nomads.

Xiaoyu and Jinora stood at the base of the atrium, looking up at the massive stained-glass skylight of dragons, badgermoles, sky bison, and the ocean spirit koi fish all gathered under a full moon. It was a recent addition to the Royal Palace commissioned by Fire Lord Izumi to symbolize unity cooperation, and even codependency of the four nations and their peoples. Everything from the wrought iron railings of the walkways on the upper floors to the ladders, to the shelving and cages over some of the more delicate works were absolutely beautiful. The extravagance was unlike anything ever seen in humble wooden structures on Air Temple Island and the rustic clay dwellings carved into the mountains of the Southern and Northern air temples.

"To be fair, those were only inhabited by men," Xiaoyu smirked.

Jinora laughed. The Eastern and Western Air Temples were only inhabited by women; notably, they were more geometric in architecture, and were decorated with intricate paintings and many sculptures depicting scenes from Air Nomad history and were much more geometric in architecture and much more decorated with more detailed paintings of the history and much more abundant in statues of ancient airbender nuns.

"Which raises the question: how exactly did we survive for as long as we did?" Jinora questioned.

"Well, we ARE supposed to be nomads…" Xiaoyu smiled.

"Maybe the answers are up there," Jinora said, nodding to the top floors.

Xiaoyu looked up and smiled. "I'll race you!"

"I have a wingsuit, but you don't have your glider on you. How are we going to-" Jinora asked.

Xiaoyu pulled the two fans out of her waist band and opened them, bending one arm in front of her and one arm behind her. She twisted and pushed the air down, shooting herself up with an air spout then used a fan to push herself to the side and onto a balcony on the seventh floor of the library.

"I win!" Xiaoyu called.

"NO FAIR! You didn't say go!" Jinora hissed, flying up to join her older sister.

Xiaoyu stifled her laughter as she caught her little sister. There were a combination of books and scrolls, even paintings of each of the four Air Temples, in the direction of their names. "Grandfather Aang was from the Southern Air Temple, right?"

"Yeah," Jinora replied as they rounded the atrium to the section on the Southern Air Temple. The rows were labeled with call numbers with a directory at the end of each one written in some ancient script that neither girl could read.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all," Jinora thought as she tried to decipher the unrecognizable characters.

"Maybe the scrolls will be in a different language or writing?" Xiaoyu suggested, heading down an isle to pull out a random scroll with an even stranger kind of writing. "Is there a way to tell the dates of these transcripts?"

"There's a code," a voice said.

Both girls jumped with a shrill scream.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to startle you, Misses," the vaguely familiar young Fire Nation Man said, bowing to them.

"Hey! We saw you in the library in Republic City! You attend Ranshao Rikai University, right?" Jinora asked.

"Used to. I have since graduated in the past month. Now I am an intern for the Secretary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He has sent me to return some scrolls he borrowed to the archives. Needless to say, I didn't expect to hear two girls screaming at each other in the atrium."

"Sorry, about that," Xiaoyu said, subconsciously tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Don't apologize. Rarely does anybody even come here so it is likely you didn't disturb anyone. Most who come bring their selections back to their own chambers to read anyways, unless such selections are under lock and chain. Those particular tomes cannot leave the library," the man informed them.

"Who decides what goes under lock and chain?" Jinora asked.

"Previously it was the Fire Sages who censored information available to the ministers, generals, and even the Royal Family. You know, they were the original leaders of the Fire Islands prior to any Fire Lord gaining authority," the man answered.

"Really?"

"Yes. Alas, a lot has changed in the last nine-thousand years. Fire Lord Izumi has finally finished what her ancestors began and has permanently sripped the ancient and long-obsolete organization of all political authority. Now she is solely in charge of the censors but leaves most of the tedious tasks like reorganizing the Royal Library to a certain branch of the Amber League," the man said thinking for a moment before turning to Xiaoyu directly. "Is there any particular topic about which you are interested in learning? I can help you find the text. Forgive me, but the organization system is a bit difficult to teach and I am assuming your stay won't be very long in the Fire Nation since it is only for vacation and not permanent residency."

"Is everything an option?" Xiaoyu asked, turning away from him to hide her reddening cheeks. Jinora leaned around the man to look at Xiaoyu, knowing instantly what was happening. It was the same thing that happened to her when she first saw Kai in that village where they put on an airbending exhibition nearly four years ago.

"How did airbenders reproduce if the men and the women lived on separate temples on opposite axes of the world?" Jinora asked loudly, wanting to make things awkward for her big sister and the Fire Nation guy before them.

Xiaoyu wanted to murder her little girl for a moment.

"Such engagements were recorded and coordinated by the nuns of the Western Air Temple. We've actually managed to collect their methods and birth records for... preservation purposes and keep them stored over here," the man said, walking away from them.

"I am going to KILL you later!" Xiaoyu whispered.

"Maybe he can be your future mate!" Jinora suggested with a devious little grin. "You seem willing."

"It is well known that the Air Nomads are extremely progressive and extremely conservative at the same time with their regards to society. Unlike those of the Fire Nation, the Air Nomads allowed all members of their society to love whomever they choose so long as they disclosed the person's name, ethnicity, birth date, and birthplace. It did not matter the race or gender, so long as every person contributed at least one child to the society to take their place when they leave the mortal world," the man said as he walked with his hands behind his back to the Western Air Temple Section as if he had been there a thousand times before. "Yet they are traditional in the sense that they, for the longest time were against technological advances and viewed most inventions made by the Fire Nation and Northern Water Tribes at the time as abominations to nature that corrupted all that was peaceful and pure."

"This is a matchmakers log," the man said, pulling a massive tome off the shelf and handing it to Xiaoyu.

"Matchmaker's log?" Jinora asked as her older sister opened it on a table.

"I can read this," Xiaoyu commented, noting the names with descriptions of the person's personality.

"But why are matchmakers necessary?" Jinora asked.

"In the event two men or two women loved each other, both parties had to approach the matchmaker to find a donor willing to contribute the necessary, complimentary piece to produce the obligatory child," the man explained.

"You make it seem like the Air Nomads were bred like farm animals," Jinora commented with pursed lips and a furrowed brow.

"The Air Nomads didn't see sex and reproduction as the other nations did. Air is the element of freedom. The people of the Air Temples preached the necessity of detaching oneself from their earthly tethers and that included significant others and families. Love was not a requisite for procreation. Even after a child was born, it was sent away-"

"WHAT?!" Both girls turned in shock.

"Girls were often away from their mothers to be raised by the nuns of the other temple and boys were sent to either the Northern or Southern Temples, whichever temple does not host his father if the father was also an Air Nomad, which happened more frequently than you would think, " the man said. "The airbenders who 'mated' with the local population would present their airbending children to the elders and leave the non-bending children, or benders of the other elements, with the other parent and leave."

"How could someone just give up their children?" Jinora said, frowning.

"It was what they thought was necessary at the time. This Fire Sage Maotian Xu explains his observations and thoughts on the practice here," the man said handing the younger airbender before him a scroll. "And these are some texts by the Nun, Hanfeng Deng, of the Western Air Temple. She was one of the matchmakers charged with the more reluctant young female airbenders."

"How do you know all of this?" Xiaoyu asked suspiciously.

"I have a friend who is absolutely fascinated with the origins and cultures of all four nations and their elements," the man replied, scanning the bookshelves for other scrolls of interest. "It is his belief that one can only become a true master of his own element if he becomes a _master of understanding_ of _all_ of the elements and their wielders."

"What was your name again?" Jinora asked.

"Kohaku Ge, at your service," the man said bowing deeply again.

"I'm-"

"Jinora Trunghai and Xiaoyu Yeshe," Kohaku said for her.

"Wait, I thought Aunt Lin changed all of our names to Yeshe?" Jinora said, looking to Xiaoyu who shrugged.

"The former Chief of Police was misinformed. She cannot name you Yeshe since it is a name only granted to the direct descendants of an Air Nomad Avatar by a mate approved by the Avatar. Aang never met your mother, and therefore could never give his blessing for her to grant children to your father. Per Air Nomad tradition, you _cannot_ be a Yeshe. It is documented in this record. 'The Marital Escapades of Yangchen'," Kohaku informed them.

"Wait, but based on what you said previously it sounds like the Air Nomads of old weren't allowed to get married since they had to leave their children and significant other's behind. How could Avatar Yangchen engage in 'marital escapades' if she cannot marry? They had to detach from their earthly attachments," Xiaoyu argued.

"Read the tome," Kohaku said, nodding to the scroll in Jinora's hands.

" _Avatar Yangchen: To the next Air Nomad Avatar, you must be willing to put aside your spiritual needs for the sake of the world for your sole duty is to the world._ " Jinora flipped to the next page that indexed the contents of the record. With Fire Lord Jinzutik… with Earth King Haolong Jing… with Chief Tikanu of the Water Tribes…."

"She had a child with each of the world leaders?"

"She became the bridge that connected humans and spirits, and the bridge that connected the four nations as one 'family' in a way, would you believe it? She played a major role in ensuring peace for the generation that followed her time in the mortal world. Her children became ambassadors for their respective fathers, and quelled quarrels that arose for the following eight decades after her passing." Kohaku said with an enthusiastic smile, planting one hand on the table beside the book, leaning towards Xiaoyu, prompting Jinora to slide protectively close to Xiaoyu.

"That actually… makes sense," Xiaoyu said, not noticing his proximity.

Jinora eyed the Fire Nation man with a growing distaste, then she felt the temperature of the air rising as if a fire was igniting somewhere. She looked at Kohaku standing with one hand on the desk, the other on the back of Xiaoyu's chair. He didn't appear to firebending. Jinora ran to the end of the isle towards the atrium. The air was cooler there. She ran down the adjacent isles to check. She needed to protect these ancient tomes.

"Jinora, is everything okay?" Xiaoyu asked.

"You don't feel the heat?" Jinora asked.

"What heat?" Xiaoyu asked. She turned to the only possible source of the heat, the fire nation boy. Only then did she too notice his proximity and jumped out of her seat, quickly brushing herself off, blushing red, and looking away shyly.

"Sorry, I was just-" Xiaoyu began to say before Jinora jumped in front of her big sister and onto the pushed-out chair to be at eye level with the Fire Nation Boy.

"WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT, BOY!" Jinora yelled at Kohaku as he stood up straight again.

"What are you talking about?" Xiaoyu asked her sister angrily.

"He was heating the air around you for some reason," Jinora said. "How could you not feel it?"

"Maybe she just has a higher heat tolerance than you do, Jinora," Kohaku suggested.

"So you admit to bending the heat around us?"

"It probably was me. Unlike airbenders, firebenders are not as adept at detaching themselves from their emotions, and as a result, can sometimes lose control of their bending," Kohaku explained.

"Maybe you're just being paranoid about NOTHING!" Xiaoyu yelled at Jinora. "Forgive my little sister, the airbending MASTER who seems to be unable to detach herself from being ridiculous suspicious of nothing!"

"What?!" Jinora shrieked.

"Whatever!"

"UGH! You're infuriating!" Jinora yelled.

"I'm infuriating? You're the one who wanted to learn about Air Nomad reproduction anyways and now you can't handle it!"

"I can't handle HIM!"

"He's been nothing but kind to us sacrificing his time so that we could learn despite the cataloguing being done in ancient runes!"

"I don't like him firebending around you. It's creepy!"

"Then leave!"

"Maybe I will!" Jinora growled storming off to go find Opal and Ikki.


	41. 2,11 Honesty

**Chapter 11: Honesty**

* * *

 **Pier 29, Fire Nation Port, Fire Nation Capital**

The crowded coastal main street of the port city was lined on one side by docks, that boasted everything from transoceanic cruise ship terminals, sea serpent viewing vessels, seafood fishing vessels, military vessels, and ferry boats to the other fire islands, and on the other side by restaurants and shops. Nobody paid the Fire Lord and her daughter's any attention.

"I would give anything to be a metalbender right now with tethering capabilities," Izumi said softly as they made their way through dense crowds to the meat street.

"Why?" Ursa asked tilting her head curiously.

"To make sure I don't lose you two with so many people around," Izumi replied with absolute seriousness.

"Mother, we're not children. We can see you just fine and have no intention of running off, so there really is no need for tethering," Miyoko replied with a sigh of exasperation.

"Perhaps not to you, but to me you'll always be my little girls," the Fire Lord said wistfully.

Most of the restaurants that lined the street and food carts that littered the sidewalk had menus and placards that advertised daily specials and signature dishes as well as their prices.

"So expensive here," Miyoko commented, looking around.

"That's because this is the tourist district and not the university district. Most of the clientele here are rich foreigners on business trips and not starving students," Izumi replied matter-of-factly. "How about here?" she suggested, stopping at a meat cart.

"Did you really bring enough gold for this particular meat cart?" Ursa asked, gaping at the prices for the luxury cuts.

"Just because we dressed down doesn't mean I didn't prepare to eat out," Izumi explained. "Order anything, we'll be fine."

The girls glanced at each other, an eyebrow raised, and scanned the menu for something appetizing. They both ordered extremely basic teriyaki barbecue chicken kebabs for a ridiculous price of seventeen gold pieces each. Izumi got a blazing ghost chili beef fillet on a stick for some sixty gold pieces and asked for the whole pepper to be left on top. Her heat tolerance must have been higher than everybody either girl had ever met. When they went to pay, the girls noticed their mother open her palm as the appropriate amount of gold pieces flew to her palm from a storage pocket in her wide sleeve.

"Are you a metalbender too or something?" Miyoko asked, floored by what she was seeing.

"I'll explain once we're seated," Izumi replied taking a receipt, leading the girls to an empty table nearby. "After a rather interesting conversation with Baatar the other evening about magnets and trains, we realized that firebenders possibly generate their own electromagnetic fields of varying gravitational strength with lightningbending, so I thought I would try it today, and it worked," Izumi explained.

"How do you figure all of this out?" Miyoko asked.

"When I was younger, I was told I had to master firebending, master lightning bending, master lightning redirection. I passed all of my tests, I gained the honor of being called 'Master' for a day until Princess took that title's place. But then I met an opponent I couldn't beat. In our own bed, he used dark lightning to paralyze me," Izumi answered. "So I tried to teach myself the technique. I remembered it feeling incredibly painful, and wanted to refine it to be useful, but also painless, for I was not one who liked causing pain in others unless necessary. I realized then that there was no such thing as a true master of firebending, only varying levels of command of the element. Even the dragons don't know what to make of dark lightning."

"Why don't you teach us these techniques you've discovered?" Ursa asked.

"Well, I only discovered the magnetic field generation yesterday and am not confident in my own competence with that yet to teach. As for other techniques like dark lightning, I won't teach because I view it as being on-par with bloodbending in terms of cruelty. I hated training it, hated refining it and hate using it even when necessary. It is a burden to wield and completely unnecessary for you to know in the peaceful times we live in today."

Miyoko looked like she wanted to say something else but was clearly holding back. Why? Ursa couldn't tell.

"Number 75!" the meat cart owner yelled, putting out a food tray.

"I'll get it," Miyoko said quickly leaving, looking bothered for some reason.

"What's with her?" Ursa asked once Miyoko was out of earshot.

"She thinks I am too restricting on myself and all of you," Izumi explained just before Yoko returned.

"For me and you, and for Mom," Miyoko said, setting down the three trays and taking a seat beside her half sister.

Izumi picked up the saucy pepper and ate it whole discarding the stem in a nearby plant before digging into the steak on a stick with an absurd sort of delicacy about her.

"Mother, how in Shaw's name do you manage to look dainty even when tearing meat off a stick?" Ursa asked, stopping in the middle of raising her own stick of meat to her lips.

Izumi swallowed and spoke. "I don't know what you're talking about." she replied obliviously, before taking another bite.

"Without getting any of the extra sauce on the back of your fingers or even smudging your lip color in any way," Miyoko clarified.

"Oh, that," Izumi said setting down the stick to dab her fingers and the corner of her mouth with a disposable napkin that came with the tray that was as stiff as parchment. "Could possibly be a result of growing up getting whacked with a stick by this ancient lady from Ba Sing Se who supervised all of my meals to make sure I learned how to eat _properly_ ," Izumi replied, subconsciously sitting up straight.

"I don't think I could have managed," Ursa commented, with pity

"I knew you couldn't, that's why I didn't ask that lady back when I had you, and insisted upon personally overseeing your training. I couldn't bear to see you tortured even though sometimes you actually did deserved it," Izumi confessed. _Be honest with them_ , Masaru told her.

"Gee thanks," Ursa said, rolling her eyes.

Izumi simply shrugged and looked around. The meat street was bright and quaint and a nice change of scenery from the dark and damask interior of the Fire Nation Royal Palace.

"So, Mom, is there anything you need us to do in preparation for your wedding? Like making the dress or helping decorate like we did with Aunt Lin's?" Ursa asked.

"I don't think so. I put a team in charge of the preparations with strict instructions. I wanted us to be able to spend time with family and not have to worry about working- and I wanted to get to see my friends since I never had any siblings and with Su being Earth Queen, we're all so busy," Izumi said.

"What was it like growing up the only child of the Fire Lord?" Miyoko asked.

"Dreadfully lonely, and incredibly painful. The pressure was debilitating at times. I felt like my parent's only chance to do anything good in the world. I had to be; I was to be the first Fire Lord to ascend to the throne in over a century that didn't have a 'Scorched Earth' policy," Izumi said with a bittersweet sadness in her voice. "I had to be absolutely perfect. I couldn't speak unless spoken to; I couldn't eat unless allowed. Sometimes Miss. Della would take away dinner if I made too many mistakes at lunch. Sometimes she'd take away both if I made too many mistakes at breakfast. I had to train bending with the 'best teachers in the Fire Nation' who were just really big assholes who had a nice long history of creating other really big assholes. I had to study the history of all four nations, so that I wouldn't make the same mistakes as my forefathers.

When I could get away from the parade of tutors and teachers, I'd hide in the vents and wait for my best friend to come and save me. Most of the time, we would just sneak into the kitchens and eat. I couldn't go alone because I wasn't strong enough to kick the grills that cover the openings like he could."

"Father?" Miyoko asked.

"Yes."

"What was it like when Hisoki came to the Capital?" Ursa asked, not quite sure if she wanted to hear the answer anymore. "Was he at least kind in the beginning?"

"He was kind enough to be chosen out of dozens of suitors presented to my parents, to have the opportunity to meet me," Izumi began. "He was a bit of a home body, not much of a soldier, definitely raised and trained to flawlessly navigate high society, never did like running, though he still accompanied me on my morning sprint around the capital before joining my family at breakfast. He was supportive, watched my firebending lessons and acrobatic lessons, then spent the rest of most days with my father learning about the court system and politics. He was good then, good enough to gain the approval of both of my parents when he asked for my hand in marriage after two whole years of courting.

"It was strange though, when he first came," Izumi continued, addressing the first question. "It was only a week after Masaru joined the Fire Nation Army against my mother's wishes. Saru wouldn't even join the United Forces because there were too many Earth Kingdom Soldiers in it. Looking back, I realized he was a racist little bigot with an unreasonable grudge against his own Mother for not wanting to lock him away in Gaoling. He ran away when he was five to find a firebending teacher and Toph let him go. She wanted him to be free and happy, not chained like she was and he interpreted it as her not caring. I swear to you, parents can't do anything right, these days," Izumi added sadly.

"Don't say that, Ma!" Ursa whined.

"You did relatively well, all things considered. I mean, we're all still breathing-," Miyoko pointed out.

"Hisoki would disagree," Izumi replied glassy-eyed.

Both girls' faces fell as they remembered Miyoko's outburst the previous night at dinner after Masaru sent Izumi to bed. "Did my father really blame you for miscarrying?" Ursa asked.

"Yes," Izumi said, fidgeting with the stick of her kebab.

"And did he really disappear for twelve years?" Ursa asked.

"Yes."

"And did you really kill him?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"He wasn't your father anymore. He was a monster. I don't know what happened to him on his journey. In the twelve years he was gone, his voice stayed the same, but his hair had turned white, there were shadows under his eyes, scars on his neck and face, and lines where there shouldn't have been lines. His face had become gaunt and he spoke nonsense about some desire to kill my family. He said for me though, he wouldn't show mercy or do it quickly and proceeded to rape me."

"Why didn't you fight back?"

"You've heard of dark lightning. He was the first one who used it on me. And he used it again on me that midday. Managed to get his hand on my back and paralyze me completely so I couldn't fight him," Izumi answered. She felt her heat rising, but a deep breath brought her heart under control again and kept her hair from changing.

"That's horrible," Miyoko breathed.

Ursa became angry. "How did you know I am his and not Uncle Saru's?" she asked, mortified by what she was hearing.

"The month before the event I was in the Southern Water Tribe and for nearly two months after, I didn't let anyone touch me, not even Saru because I was so shaken by what had transpired that day," Izumi explained. "We knew you were his because of the timing."

"And you still kept me?" Ursa asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" Izumi asked, perplexed.

"Because I reminded you of him?"

Izumi bit her lower lip. "You know, Iroh asked the same thing after Takeo was born. He was five-years-old, crying, afraid that I would hate him for who his father was. I didn't hate him; I couldn't hate him. I don't hate him, or you for that matter, because both he and you are still a part of me. You are still my blood and I cannot just leave a part of myself on a street or with a stranger."

"When exactly did you start courting my Father?" Miyoko asked.

"That you'll have to ask my parents," Izumi answered with no expression on her face. "We were best friends that constantly got into trouble together raiding the kitchens of raspberry pastries, brewing wildfyre, setting bathrooms ablaze, playing pranks on the guards, and discovering secret passageways to use to escape. When I was sixteen, Bumi started making crude remarks that I didn't understand. Saru explained all of them to me as if they were just… pieces of information. When I asked if he'd demonstrate some of those 'things' Bumi had mentioned, Saru refused. Told me that doing so would tarnish my reputation, my status, and dishonor my family name. We fought and made up. And a year later, I kissed him. He decided to join the army after that. Our parents didn't mind us holding hands, didn't mind the pecks on the cheek. Looking back, it was rather cruel to let us believe we could be together before tearing us apart for the sake of blood purity and to minimize the chances of the pro-Ozai nationalists revolting."

"Were you scared?" Ursa asked. "When you got married the first time?"

Izumi looked up at the clear blue sky and drew a breath. "I don't even know anymore. I guess I was just naive. Nothing frightened me then. I knew it was my duty as Princess to serve my nation and my dynasty and I had accepted that. I was proud of what my father had accomplished and was eager to follow in his footsteps in spreading peace, love, and harmony throughout the world. If that required me marrying Hisoki, then I would, and I did. I guess I didn't get nervous until the night of our wedding."

"Why?"

"Because the damned Fire Sages came with our parents to ensure we consummated our marriage on the first night. They didn't trust us," Izumi turned her gaze down at the table, her eyes narrowing in anger in hate, her fists clenched. _STOP IT, ZUMI! You're safe now! Both the Sages and Hisoki are gone! You can breathe again!_ Izumi's hair streaked and then went grey again. "Sorry," She said with a sigh, looking up again.

"What was that like?" Ursa asked.

"It sounds horrible!" Miyoko exclaimed, shifting uncomfortably.

"Ursa, subtract six years. Yoko, add two," Izumi commanded. "You've never had sex before and now you're told you have two years to bear a child or else your family could lose everything. It was so excruciating that I lost control of my firebending and burned the hands that held me down so Hisoki could maintain access to my body. He ended up resorting to dark lightning to disable any defenses I had put up around myself.

"Things got slightly easier after Iroh was born. Hisoki liked Iroh and acted much kinder to me. I was absolutely head over heels in love with our baby. You can't imagine how entertaining it is to just sit for hours watching something so small just laying there, breathing and knowing that it was once such a tiny, inconceivable thing and now was living!

"When Iroh was about a year, we were in Fire Fountain City when insurgents tried to kill Iroh and Me. The Fire Sages realized they needed a back up plan and once again began supervising out nocturnal activities to make sure we were following orders and trying. The intended spare didn't survive long enough to take its first breath of life, and Hisoki vanished, tired of being treated like cattle. On that one stance, we perfectly agreed. We were both miserable. Still, my family worried that he would speak ill about his treatment and disgrace the family so we tried to find him. After a year, I returned to the palace, and was told I needed to remarry to have another child. I refused because of that ridiculous bedding ceremony. I would not be humiliated like that again. I loved Iroh and had no problem with the thought of more children, so I decided to do things my own way and promised to myself that once I became Fire Lord, I would do away with that archaic and barbaric tradition."

"So in short, Grandfather Zuko just let you hook up with Uncle Saru? When you returned from the failed search?" Ursa asked.

"Pretty much, so I went to Saru's house and demanded he fuck me."

"And he did?" Ursa asked incredulously.

"Obviously," Miyoko frowned, rolling her eyes.

"Well, first he gave me a tour of his estate and showed me all of the secret passages in case there were an emergency and he or the guards became incapacitated so that I could flee. I didn't know what I was even doing. Did he undress me or do I undress him? With Hisoki, the Sages told him to do as he pleased. With Saru, he asked what I wanted to do, but I knew nothing. He taught me how to love. He's probably the reason why we have so many children-I was unstoppable for a long while," Izumi covered her face flushing red with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry if it's embarrassing or hard to hear," Izumi added sympathetically after a pregnant pause.

"No, it's just really sad. We never— or at least I never realized just how much you changed… well… everything to protect us from having to go through the same trials as you," Ursa said.

"We're a rapidly progressing nation. I figured if public opinions and attitudes could change, so could traditions," Izumi said.

"So there's still hope for absolute freedom?" Miyoko asked optimistically.

"Nope, my dear that is anarchy," Izumi replied as Ursa snickered at her little dissident of a sister. "Don't laugh at her. She can't help that she's been brainwashed by my enemies in the university," Izumi said to Ursa with a smile on her face.


	42. 2,12 Hard Water

**The Hall of the Fire Lords**

 _WOAH,_ Huifan thought as she craned her neck to see the massive paintings on the wall that spanned the space from floor to ceiling. She had stopped in front of Zuko's painting. His scar was intentionally drawn faded as a testament to the fact that his past did not define his present being. Above his and Ozai's head, Sozin's comet was painted looming over their great nation. While flames were painted in both hands of the last 'bad' Fire Lord, a flame and a baby dragon were painted in the hands of the most recent one. The difference was supposed to signify the change in the role that fire would play in the new world as a bringer of life and not just ash and destruction. At the feet of Ozai's flowing red and gold robes, an army with newly invented airships, war balloons, tanks, and artillery march onward to annihilate the Earth Kingdom. At the feet of Zuko's flowing red and gold robes, citizens of all four nations gathered not in submission but in peace and unity to welcome the new Fire Lord and the new era of peace and growth that he ushered in during his long reign. Huifan looked at the blank space to the right of Zuko's painting where Izumi would one day stand, her legacy immortalized in an oil painting. Huifan began to wonder what would be painted at the feet, in the hands, and above the head of her soon-to-be-aunt in her portrait.

"My guess would be flowers. Her name does mean _spring_. It is the season of change, and if we're being honest, she has changed MANY things. Most has been for the better, but for some, not so much," a voice said, breaking the eerie silence that hung heavy in the cavernous hall.

Huifan screamed and slid back punching the man with a rock instinctively.

"Sorry, did I say something wrong?" he asked, shoving the rock off and standing up.

That smooth skin, that long hair… those narrow amber eyes…"Taemon?" Huifan asked.

"Yes?" he responded in confirmation.

"Are you dead or something?" Huifan demanded. _FUCK! Why doesn't my seismic sense ever register him?_

"I don't believe so," he replied curiously.

Huifan eyed him suspiciously.

"You are free to check," he said unbuttoning the top of his shirt. Huifan looked away quickly. _This is COMPLETELY inappropriate!_ She thought, weighing the decision to flee.

"Relax, I'm not taking off everything," Taemon assured her, only exposing the top of his chest above his heart.

Huifan looked back at him, annoyed, but curious to why her reliable skill was rendered useless around this singular person. She slammed a firm hand onto his bare chest and closed her eyes. Sure enough, his heart was beating normally. She growled with frustration and let go, only for his presence to vanish off her radar until once again, she opened her eyes.

"So are you an earthbender or a firebender? Even among earthbenders, it is extremely rare to be able to have the acuity to counter the resonation of one's own heart beat." Huifan asked, completely bewildered.

"Who said I have to chose one or the other?" Taemon asked.

"Only the Avatar can bend all four elements," Huifan said, skeptically raising an eyebrow.

"How do you know the Avatar is the only one?"

"Because-"

"Because it is something so many people have told you. Who said you have to choose if you bend earth, or lava, or blood, or maybe even... water?" Taemon asked.

Huifan's eyes narrowed as her brain struggled to comprehend what he was saying. "You're not making any sense," Huifan said, turning to walk away.

"Wait, Miss Yeshe! Before you go, may I at least tell you a story?"

"It depends. How long is your story?"

"It will only take a few minutes. And then I have a gift for you back in my study-"

Huifan shot him another look.

"It is a tool," he explained in an attempt to ease her suspicions. "You can trust me, Huifan. I'm a Lee. Even the Fire Lord and your Uncle trust me, and they have known me since before I was even a teen."

"Alright, I'll hear your story," Huifan relented.

"There was once a man named Kage Yamakatsu who was born to a poor family in a tiny village on one of the outer isles of the Fire Nation. When Yamakatsu was six years old, his little sister fell off one of the cliffs above the water. He wished so much then that he could be an air bender, to bound down there and save her from death, lift her spirit up again to be among the living. Alas, he was a firebender, and an untrained one at that. He tried to get down, using thrusters to slow his descent to be safe, but he was too late. His sister died the next morning from a head wound. With a waterbending healer, she might have lived but the Healers Without Borders only came to their island once a year.

"When Yamakatsu was older, he went to the United Republic where people from all nations came together and lived in relative peace, sharing their wealth of knowledge and talents to create a remarkably advanced civilization that we now know as Republic City. His favorite place in the city was the City's Library where archives from all over the world on the people, clustered, fighting and bending styles were collected. There, he discovered several books of great interest that became the foundation of his life's work. The first was by the original General Iroh, the Dragon of The West, son of Azulon and Ilah. The book discussed the importance of learning about other nations and their philosophies, not necessarily to gain the upper hand, but to better understand oneself and one's own ability and purpose in the world.

"The second book was written by Avatar Aang based on the teachings of a Guru Pathik who took up residence in the Eastern Air Temple after the Air Nomad Genocide in 0AG. This one talked about the interconnectedness of the world, all of its inhabitants, and the four elements. In one section it even discussed how an Avatar went about opening all seven chakras in case… In case the knowledge was lost and the next Avatar's connection to the all previous ones, severed.

"Those two books served as a guide for Yamakatsu to discover new limits to his bending and unlock abilities never seen before. Legend tells that he managed to obtain airbending by unlocking the air chakra. To test his hypothesis, he took in a young orphaned girl and guided her through the same process as him and together, they crossed over into another element."

"That's impossible!" Huifan dismissed skeptically. "I don't believe it."

"You don't have to believe something to understand it. Come now. I want to show you something, Huifan," Taemon said beckoning her to follow.

She glanced around. As far as she could see there were no guards, nor member of the Amber League. They were completely alone. He led her to the offices in the Palace where he had a desk room and a laboratory of his own to experiment with Fire Nation alchemy.

"In here," Taemon gestured.

"I don't feel comfortable going in with just you alone," Huifan said, staying in the hallway.

"My handler is in there, if it makes you feel better."

"Handler?"

"A member of the Amber League. Izumi assigns at least one to each of her children, to keep her updated on all of our activities and needs, since we're all grown and live so far away."

"I'd still rather stay out here, thanks."

"Suit yourself. I'll bring a cart," he said with a shrug, disappearing into the dimly lit lab.

He re-emerged with a couple of clear cups, one filled with water, and the other filled with what looked like pieces of metal.

"You should be able to bend these," Taemon said lifting Huifan's hand and pouring the pieces of solid metal into it. "Don't worry, it's not poisonous. I'm not sure I could survive the wrath of the spawn of Toph and Satoru if I were to try to kill you."

"Good to know," Huifan responded uneasily, bending the metal into a single orb levitating between her two hands. She morphed it into several geometric shapes before restoring it to a bunch of tiny nuggets.

"Could you use your metalbending to make the metal into several thin strips? It works easiest when the surface area to volume ratio is exceedingly large."

"Alright," Huifan said, bending each nugget into a thin strip with one pull of her hand.

"And now put it in the water."

Huifan tossed all of the metal into the clear glass cup. Taemon lifted the beaker and ignited a flame beneath it, boiling the water almost instantly. After a few seconds, all of the metal was gone.

"Wait! Where'd it go? Wouldn't it melt?" Huifan asked, perplexed.

"If it weren't in water, yes. But! What my college and I have discovered is that certain metals can dissolve in water. What you were just bending was a combination of salts and zinc pieces. The salts just contributed some extraneous metal components to the water, and the zinc was the easiest for my colleague to manipulate in the water so we never make a solution without significant amounts of it. They react together and form new—- things, if you will. We're not quite sure what the new things called, but the metal is still there-just invisible. See if you can feel for it, Huifan. Reach into the metals in the water just how you can reach into the iron of someone's blood. I know the concentration is small, but it should be enough."

Huifan held her hand over the glass cup but the steam burned her.

"Sorry!" He said, pulling the heat from it with his bending. She tried again and pulled the water out in a thin stream then dropped it.

"Is something wrong?"

"It's just strange bending metal I can't see, in water!"

"Your own grandmother, Toph Beifong, has spent her whole life bending earth and metal she couldn't see. There is no difference," Taemon told her.

"You're right," Huifan said, pulling all of the water from the beaker.

"The solution is called 'hard water.' All water has minuscule amounts of trace metals. All water is bendable by a metalbender, so if you're ever locked up on a wooden barge in the middle of the ocean like that fool, Ghazan, you have a means of escape," Taemon told her.

Huifan turned her gaze up to him with skepticism. "I'm sure that will come in handy," Huifan said sarcastically. She stood with a column of water between her hands, glistening in the dim torchlight of the palace halls.

"A moment please," he said, disappearing again into his lab before re-emerging with a green water skein. "I want you to have this," he said, unstopping it. "There is already some liquid inside, but if you ever find yourself suspended in a wicker basket for any reason…"

"I appreciate the thought, thanks," Huifan said, bending the hard water into the sack. He closed the metal cork fitted with rubber rings to seal the skein closed and handed it to her,

"Here," he said with a hand over hers.

Huifan felt a jolt of electricity run through her body when his skin made contact with hers. She wasn't sure if it was a reaction, or something of his doing, a result of his bending, but she liked it. It felt...different.

She found herself looking at his hand just resting over hers for a long while. It was almost hypnotic. Then she remembered that hand on hers was attached to that strange ghost of a human being.

"So… is that it then?" she asked, pulling her hands away and looking up at his smooth face.

"What do you mean?" Taemon asked.

"I mean, what next? Do we just stand here together or…"

"That would be my preference. Alas, unlike my dear mother, Fire Lord Izumi, I don't get to just take a week off from work whenever I please and assign one of my subordinates to take over all of my duties," Taemon replied to Huifan.

"I see. I'll just be going then."

"Do you need guidance back to your family?" Taemon offered. "I know the palace is rather vast and can be confusing at times—"

"I'll be fine, thanks. Navigation is the one thing my feet haven't yet failed at doing!" Huifan replied with a smile, still thinking about that strange sensation that jolt of electricity caused in her head.

"Good day, Huifan," Taemon said, bowing to her.

"Good day, Taemon," Huifan replied returning the gesture. _So formal they are in the Fire Nation._


	43. 2,13 Underground

**Chapter 13: Underground**

* * *

 **Meat Street, Fire Nation Port, Fire Nation Capital**

Both girls had a second kebab, which pleased Izumi greatly. They both seemed far too skinny for their own good, but that could simply be because they weren't as muscular as she, Lin and Kya were back when they were pro-bending.

Izumi asked about Ursa's recent travels to Omashu and Miyoko about her university studies and that boy, Ikta Soren that lead the organization for which Miyoko served as Vice President. She seemed very reluctant to talk about him.

"Is he a crush or a secret boyfriend?" Ursa asked the younger girl with a smirk.

"Neither!" Miyoko yelled, snatching up their empty trays to go throw away. Both Izumi and Ursa laughed.

"We shouldn't be mean to her," Izumi said after collecting herself.

"But she is so cute when provoked!"

"She is." Izumi sighed watching her baby walk away. "And unlike somebody else I know, she doesn't burst into flames," Izumi added turning back to Ursa.

Ursa laughed. "Ma, can I get one more meat stick to go?"

"Sure," Izumi said, beckoning a few gold coins to her hand to give to her daughter.

Izumi looked down at the darts on her wristband and pulled one out, twirling it between her fingers, like a student would do with a pencil, while she waited for her daughters to return to their table.

She thought about Saru and wondered how his day with Baatar, Tenzin, and Bumi was going. She wondered if Su and Kya managed to convince Lin to join them on their spa day. She wondered if Rikuto would ever best Huifan in sparring or if her future mother-in-law, her father, and Aunt Katara were keeping out of trouble in their old age. Then she was suddenly pulled from her thoughts as she heard a blood-curdling scream. She turned to see a blast of blue fire coming from near the trash bins by a planter box in the eating area.

"Let go!" came another too familiar voice. Izumi turned the other way and saw Ursa on the ground, surrounded, and in the first direction Miyoko shoved against a wall. Izumi jumped onto the table to get a clean shot at the attackers in both places. She raised a hand in the direction of each girl. People dove out of the way and she fired lightning at their captors only for them to be replaced by others. It was a premeditated effort. Izumi held her fire and waited for the inevitable confrontation, her heart pounding out of her chest.

"Choose one, Fire Lord Izumi," a man in civilian clothes said, walking up to Izumi as his accomplices lifted the girls off the ground and held them like shields before their own mother. "The Princess, or the Bastard Half-Breed of your lover, Mr. Lee."

The crowded street fell silent as they recognized who Izumi was, even without her golden crown and silk finery.

"Release them and I may have mercy on your soul and your family," she ordered, her voice low and commanding.

"You are in no position to bargain while we hold their throats."

"You have no idea what I am capable of and you will regret every laying hand on my daughters."

"We might, but first, we will make you regret having them," the man said, sneering.

Izumi glanced between her girls' terrified faces and closed her eyes and fired her lightning. So many people, including her daughters, screamed when the bolts made contact with their bodies. With her precision bending, Izumi guided the energy around her girl's and into their captors and the captors' accomplices. The attempted kidnappers dropped their charges, and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. She sent just enough lightning to hurt them, to torture them, but not enough to fry them alive.

"Yoko! Ursa! Get over here now!" she ordered. They both ran to the table. Izumi let go of the lightning and grabbed them both by the arm and ran.

"Where are we going?" Miyoko screamed.

"Just shut up and trust me!" Izumi ordered dragging them into an alleyway creating a wall of flames. She yanked the grills off a drain. "In there, NOW!"

The girls jumped in.

"Ugh!" Ursa groaned as she landed in a river of city sewage.

"Come on!" Izumi said coming in after them, dragging them again by the arm out of the flow of the sewage and onto the maintenance sidewalk for the underground.

They walked in silence for miles, following their mother's blue flame until they came to a drain spout with various fluids pouring out of it.

"Through here," Izumi said climbing up into the spout against the water flow, her skirts getting drenched through with the brine.

"Ew! I'm not going in that city shit juice!" Ursa declared.

"Ursa do as I say or suffer house arrest for a year," Izumi ordered, waiting for the girls to go ahead of her.

"You know whats funny?" Miyoko asked as Ursa went first and Izumi took the rear.

"I didn't know anything could be funny in times such as these," Ursa grumbled miserably.

"Mother's threats are the opposite of most of her ancestors," Miyoko replied. "House arrest versus banishment." Both royals groaned as the young lady laughed alone while they trudged on through knee high sewage. It was a long stretch before reaching any maintenance sidewalks again.

"You know, it almost felt cleaner wading through the sewage than walking next to it," Miyoko commented, trying to break the silence.

"Why?" Ursa asked.

"Because you don't feel the squish of the feces saturated in your skirts when it's flowing around everything," Miyoko replied. Ursa gagged.

"Oh, get over yourselves!" Izumi said, holding her flame up to look at the roof of the tunnel.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Ursa asked.

"I know exactly where I'm going," Izumi said turning down another tunnel.

Finally, they came to a ladder. Izumi went first only to find the old door sealed. She put both hands on the metal and melted the hinges right off.

"Look out!" she yelled to the girls as the metal door fell to the bottom of the tunnel. She looked at the stone that had been paved over in the most recent renovation and blast through it with a fist of fire. "All clear!" she said climbing through, sitting on the edge, helping her daughters out of the hole.

They were by a window in a tower. "We're back at the palace?"

"Why couldn't we just have gone to the car?"

"I didn't know how many of those guys were lurking in the port city and needed to get you two to safety until we can conduct an investigation, so I just brought us directly back here," Izumi explained looking out the window.

"Which part of the castle is this? I don't recognize it." Ursa asked.

"Part of Azula's Forbidden Quarter," Izumi answered. "You've never been in this deep. I'll call for help," Izumi announced climbing onto the windowsill. She shot sparks into the sky.

"Why do we need help if we're back at the palace?"

"Because I don't want the contents of the city's sewers all over the floors of my palace; it's disgusting." There was a clap of thunder and then more lightning. Izumi returned with another pattern of sparks. "They will bring us a change of clothes.

"Is that how you communicate with Father over long distances or something?" Miyoko asked.

"Short distances. There's— something else we use for long distances," Izumi said, thinking of her inner fire and the six dragons that lived inside of her.

"We heard what happened!" Masaru said running in the room followed by Genkei, Tadashi, Rinjuk, Sunako, Iliana, Ursa's maid Marnie, and a dozen guards.

"Thank goodness you're all okay!" Iliana said offering a hand to the Fire Lord as she slid off the windowsill.

Iliana lifted a robe while Izumi shed her filthy clothes right there in front of everybody.

"Uh…" Both Ursa and Miyoko looked at their mother strangely.

"Once you've had an audience for your bedding ceremony, you stop caring about public nudity. But if it makes you feel better, Tadashi, will you build privacy walls for the girls?" Izumi asked.

The earthbending member of the Amber League stomped his foot and created three walls blocking the Princess and her little sister from view as they changed with Marnie and Sunako's help.

"I can't believe she just dragged us through the city sewers all the way back to the palace!" Ursa whispered, shrugging off the dress and yanking off her boots.

"I can't believe she shot lightning at us-" Miyoko replied. "-and we didn't feel a thing!"

"And you're both still alive and back at the palace, so stop complaining," came Izumi's voice over the earthen walls that Tadashi made.

Sunako exchanged a glance with Marnie.

"Father, what did you do to her?" Miyoko asked Masaru while Izumi was occupied talking to Genkei.

"What do you mean?" Masaru asked.

"Mother seems different today than she usually is," Miyoko explained.

"I told her to be herself and more honest with you girls," Masaru informed her.

"Father, would it be a crime to say that our Honest Mother is even more annoying and terrifying than Fire Lord Mother?" Miyoko asked. Masaru frowned.

"I didn't think that was possible until today," Ursa added standing beside Miyoko in a robe.

Tadashi collapsed the earthen walls back into the floor of the Palace.

"Mother, permission to go bathe," Ursa called.

"Yes, and Yoko, sorry we didn't make it to the Artisan Street for your wind instrument. I guess we'll just have to go again another day," Izumi said.

"It's alright, I can just go with friends once I am back at school," Miyoko replied as she and Ursa went their separate ways.

"Other than the attack, everything else has been okay?" Izumi asked Genkei.

"For the most part, yes," Genkei responded. Just then a guard ran in.

"My lord, interim Fire Lord Kei-Lo is in need of your immediate attention. A detective from Shu Jing and a constable from the island of Hau Ting has discovered a link between ALL of the kidnappings that have occurred in the outer isles in the past decade!" the guard announced in a single breath. "He is in a meeting now with the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Chief of the anti-human trafficking ring."

Izumi turned to Masaru. _There goes our family vacation._ "I'll be right there," Izumi said leaving with Iliana to change quickly before joining Kei-Lo in the meeting.

* * *

 **I know Ursa is 26 years old, but let's admit be honest. None of us REALLY feel like adults until we have kids of our own, especially with our parents.**

 **I can see she and Yoko becoming good sisters with time. What do you think? They can team up with each other against their Mother and be infuriating daughters. Good luck, Zumzu!**

 **Just a little lore for you in my AU. Masaru and Izumi can use their inner fire and those six dragons they each have to communicate with each other over long distances. It is kind of like a patronus in Harry Potter.**

 **Also, updates may slow down as the posting is catching up to the writing... There is SO much that I can do with so many OCs, but need to keep focused on the story and the timeline.**

 **Well, if you're In the USA, and at university, and on the quarter system, GOOD LUCK WITH FINALS! And get some sleep. :) Happy reading:)**


	44. 2,14 Fire Boys

**Opal's Bedroom, Fire Nation Palace**

The gentle-spirited daughter of Suyin sat on her crimson bed sifting through photographs from her morning out with Jiexue and Ikki while they were off playing airball with Kang and Meelo when Huifan came running in in a frenzy. "OPAL! How- how did you know if a boy likes you?" the older girl asked leaping onto Opal's bed. Opal used her airbending to save the photos from getting crumpled just as the earthbender landed on the covers.

"Fa-Ni! Be careful! You could have torn something!" Opal scolded gathering up all of the polaroids into a pile.

"Sorry," Huifan apologized.

Opal stowed the photographs away in the bedside table and gave her full attention to Huifan, anticipating a very unusual, if not interesting conversation coming. "But to answer your question, it depends. I mean, every boy is different. Bolin was kind of easy because he is very… straight forward. He doesn't really have a filter when it comes to who he likes and used a TON of cheesy pick up lines."

"UGH!" Huifan growled in frustration. "That doesn't help me!"

"Why? Is that one fire boy flirting with you?" Opal asked with a smirk.

"Well, that's the thing… I can't tell! He is the only person I have EVER met that is able to sneak up on me. I was really suspicious at first because I thought only earthbenders could cancel out their own heartbeats, but Masaru and Izumi trust him so, so I kind of gave him the benefit of the doubt. Then he began telling me this long story about some guy who supposedly taught himself how to airbend from some books by Avatar Aang and General Iroh but then told me that he wanted to give me a gift and so we went to his study and-"

"WAIT BACK UP!" Opal yelled. "He wanted to give you a gift and you essentially accepted it WITHOUT knowing what it is AND went with him to his study?! Did you even have an escort?"

"No, but I figured I could take him if he tried anything fishy since I kinda have managed to beat everyone I've ever encountered including a jerk-ass bloodbender."

"Fair enough. Wait. This is Taemon right? But I thought that said he wasn't allowed to court a Beifong! He said so himself! Because his adopted father is a Beifong and-"

"I guess they made an exception because he is not a blood Beifong so it is technically not incest? I don't know! They say we don't get to choose who we love, so maybe they lifted that rule about not courting a Beifong specifically for him."

"Do you think it's love?"

"I don't know I only just met him! That's why I was asking if you knew any clues, like how to tell…"

"But before we get to that, let me just get this straight, YOU WENT TO HIS STUDY? Were you alone?"

"Well his handler was in the laboratory, so we weren't completely alone, and I didn't go in. I just stayed in the hall and he brought things to me."

"His 'handler'?"

"The Fire Lord has a handler assigned to each of her children now that they're no longer all living under her roof full time. They keep her informed on her children's activities."

"So she's spying on them? Hm… Even _my_ mom never did that…"

"Maybe she does have Dai Li Agents on you but just hasn't told you. Anyways, do YOU think Taemon likes me?" Huifan asked, eagerly uncapping the water skin and bending the water out it, shocking Opal.

"How should I know? I haven't even seen you guys interact AT ALL! And you've only spoken to him like what, twice?"

"But he gave me a gift!" Huifan said bending the water around herself and then back into the skein.

"That doesn't mean anything other than he's generous!" Opal said swatting the bag away. "You're acting like a child whose hair just got pulled by some kid on a playground!"

"Hey!"

Just then Xiaoyu ran in positively beaming.

"Good, you're both here!" she exclaimed sitting on Opal's bed.

"Where's Jinora?" Opal asked, surprised.

"I only just got rid of her…"

"Rid of her? But I thought she was your favorite sister!" Opal asked puzzled by Xiaoyu's announcement.

"We sort of had a falling out in the library earlier. See, all of the filing in the Air Nomad Section has been recorded in some ancient script that neither of us could read, but then Kohaku showed up and was helping us and then suddenly she got all suspicious of him for some reason, thinking he was going to set everything on fire because he was raising the temperature of the area, but I didn't feel it. I told her if she didn't want to stay, she could just go to another section of the library but she didn't want to leave me with Kohaku was just being incredibly rude and he really is a nice and extremely knowledgeable guy and so while we were on our way back here, I made her go hang out with Kang and Meelo."

"And she went willingly? Why?" Opal asked.

"Because I threatened to ask Kohaku send his Amber League after her if she didn't listen to me…" Xiaoyu replied with a mischievous grin.

"YOU did WHAT? Seriously? Sweet little Xiaoyi exploiting the Fire Lord's personal secret police to get rid of her little sister for an hour at most, probably?" Huifan asked.

"I needed to ask Opal some very important questions since she _is_ the most experienced out of all of us with… courting..." Xiaoyu explained.

"Now that I think of it, you know Jinora does have a boyfriend. Kai? Remember him?" Opal reminded her.

"But they're just children. You're twenty-one. I trust your judgement a whole lot more than a fourteen-year-old's."

"Fair enough," Opal shrugged.

"WAIT KOHAKU? Isn't he one of the- did a fire boy hit on you TOO?" Opal asked clapping her hands over her mouth.

"TOO?" Xiaoyu turned to Huifan who was also grinning.

"Taemon taught me how to waterbend using metals that naturally occurs in all water at varying concentrations," Huifan said opening the skein and showing off her new ability.

"Well I don't know how fire boys operate since I've only ever dated Bolin and he's so… easy," Opal said. "But you know who might be able to help you?" Opal asked with a smirk.

"KORRA!" they all yelled at the same time.

"All we need is a radio!" Huifan said.

"And the direct line to the Sato Mansion, unless we want to be on hold for days with a secretary who may or may believe we're friends of the the CEO of Sato Industries and not pass on our call." Opal added.

"Do you know it?" Xiaoyu asked Huifan.

"No, but you know who might?" Huifan asked. "A member of the Amber League!"

"They're not going to help us!" Xiaoyu exclaimed elbowing Huifan. "And we can't ask Taemon OR Kohaku, because you KNOW they will insist on hanging around for the conversation!"

"Wait! But aren't Aunt Lin and Uncle Saru co-owners of Earthen Fire Refineries? Maybe they have a direct line to the CEO of one of their biggest clients, Future Industries!"

"But we can't ask Ma, she'll probably shut it down AND make fun of us."

"We can try Uncle Saru."

"I don't know, we don't really know him that well and."

"I say it never hurts to ask!"

"Alright, but how do we find him?"

"That we can probably ask the Amber League for help with then he can get rid of them. They're supposed to know where everyone is in the Palace at all times."

"Alright!"

In a flurry they left Opal's room, hoping to find their rather mysterious uncle. They had only met him on a couple occasions; but from what they've seen, he was a man with many resources including command of the Amber League and ownership of the sole metal provider for Future Industries. If anyone could connect them to Asami Sato, it would be Masaru Lee.

* * *

 **Radio Room, Fire Nation Palace**

They approached a palace guard. "Excuse us, do you know how to differentiate a member of the Amber League from a member of the Imperial Guard?" Huifan asked the man in the fancy armor.

"You don't need to. The Amber League will come to you. A member knows when he is needed," a man in a nobleman's clothing said, striding down the hall towards the three Beifong girls.

"I swear these harrowed halls have ears." Opal whispered.

"They might as well," the man chuckled. "We're simply dispersed fairly uniformly throughout the palace and have an extensive communication network and method to quickly transport information."

The girls raised their eyebrows and exchanged glances.

"My name is Hiryur, how may I be of service to you?"

"We were looking for our uncle, Masaru Lee. We had a few questions for him," Huifan answered.

"He is with the Fire Lord right now, but is not needed for the current case. If you will come with me, I am sure he will be glad to see you," Hiryur said, leading them to the throne room. "If you will just wait here."

The member of the Amber League had the clearance and authority waltz right into the closed session.

"What do you need?" Izumi asked looking up from the documents.

"Only Masaru, My Lord," Hiryur replied. Izumi waved for him to go. "Sir, three of your nieces would like to speak with you." Hiryur said, gesturing to the teens as the two exited to the hall.

"Opal, Huifan, Xiaoyu," Masaru nodded. "How have you been?"

"Um…" they glanced at each other nervously.

"Talking?" Opal answered.

"Ah, I see," Masaru nodded.

"It's a closed session? Did something happen?" Huifan asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about. Only Izumi," Masaru sighed looking back at the heavy curtains that covered the entrance to the Throne Room. "Hiryur said you needed to see me?"

"Right, we were just wondering if you had access to a radio room and possibly a direct line to Asami Sato Of Future Industries," Huifan answered.

He thought for a moment about which secretary he'd need for the direct line to Future Industries CEO. He knew where the radio room was in the palace.

"Hiryur, could you have Satoko Arakawa fetch the line number to Asami Sato Of Future Industries?

"Office or home?"

"See, it's two-thirty in the afternoon now so it should be about seven-thirty in Republic City; she should be home, now," Masaru said to Hiryur.

"Yes sir,"

"I'll meet you in the Radio Room, if you will follow me, girls?" Masaru said leading them away.

By the time they got to the radio room a woman stood there waiting for them. Her dark brown hair hung in gentle waves down her back and she wore no sleeves. When she held out her arm, they saw she had no hands. She waterbent ink out of a bag on her waist band and wrote on her arm

 ** _Hiryur received another assignment and sent me._**

 ** _Direct line: Asami Sato, Future Industries - 19-39-249-1324-9_**

"Thank you Sunako," Masaru said.

The woman nodded and then began to leave.

"Oh wait, could you stay with them, in case they need assistance getting back to the family?" Masaru asked.

She nodded again and returned to her former waiting place, by the window, where she could keep an eye on palace activities.

"Sunako, are you another member of the Amber League?" Huifan asked while the phone rang.

"She doesn't speak. She lost her tongue and her hands in a tragic accident years ago," Masaru informed the girls. Sunako looked down with a sadness about her, but no anger. It was in her line of duty to do and give whatever was necessary for her country.

"That's. I'm sorry to hear that," Huifan said looking at Sunako. She looked up at the metalbender and held out her handless arms and bent the ink into different characters.

 ** _I'm okay. My charge is safe and free, and so I am happy._**

"That is good," Huifan nodded.

"Sato Residence," the butler's voice came over the phone.

"This is Masaru Lee of Earthen Fire Refineries, may we speak with the Lady Asami Sato?"

"I shall fetch her now," the butler responded.

"Asami Sato, Future Industries, you wished to speak with me, Mister Lee?"

"Actually, my nieces. I believe you are familiar with Huifan, Xiaoyu, and Opal," Masaru said.

"Your- nieces? Oh! Right! You're Lin's brother! Forgive me! I am still not used to this whole thing," Asami said apologetically.

"Don't worry, we're still adjusting as well. I have a feeling this conversation will not be needing me, so I am going to return to the Throne room and leave you girls to it, is that okay?"

"Of course!"

"Yeah!"

"Sure!"

"Thanks Uncle Saru!"

"Any time, girls," Masaru said, waving before leaving the room.

"Is Korra also home?" Huifan asked.

"Why?" Asami asked.

"We need all of the expertise we can get on how to tell if a fire boy has a crush on a certain somebody?" Xiaoyu explained.

"Yes, how did you and Korra find out that Mako liked you?" Opal asked.

"Wait- Who asked who? Why do you need to know?" Asami asked.

"I heard my name," Korra's voice came across the phone.

"Well this one guy, Kohaku was hitting up Xiaoyu in the library,"

"He was not hitting me up, he was just telling me stories and helping us navigate the Fire Nation's archaic archival system! At least he didn't give me gifts like Taemon did to Huifan!"

"What? Huifan got a gift from somebody?"

"On their second meeting!"

"It is literally just a sack of special water!"

"Healing water?"

"Metallic water."

"Wait- That's a thing?" Korra asked.

"Yeah!"

Sunako looked up, eyes wide, in horror, anger, then determination.

She bent water into characters on the table before the girls.

 ** _Hiryur will return in a few minutes. I have to go._**

The three girls watched her flee down the steps.

"Is everything alright?" Korra asked.

"Yeah, sorry, our…handler just left," Opal replied.

"But another is coming soon. So where were we?" Xiaoyu asked.

"Well we were talking about how Mako was kind of an idiot," Asami said before giggling with Korra.

Huifan, Xiaoyu, and Opal all laughed.

* * *

 **A/N**

 _I have a love-hate relationship with Taemon and Tetsu. Tatsuya is hot (and identical to Tetsu) but he doesn't have much personality. He just likes to get into fights in his free time. (BTW, nadia_dibaj on Instagram drew twin Lotors (from VLD) wearing Fire Nation Clothes at my request and I am in absolutely in love with the drawing). Fan art for this story can also be found on my art account on IG jensaaart._


	45. 2,15 The Proper Distractions

**Chapter 15: The Proper Distractions**

* * *

 **Miyoko's Bedroom, Fire Nation Palace**

The Princess found her sister's bedroom easily in the resident quarter. The doors were so much closer together, and the rooms, presumably much smaller, served as a constant reminder to their occupants that they weren't royal.

She knocked on the door. "Hey, Miyoko, could I talk to you?"

"Of course, Princess Ursa," Miyoko replied, opening the door from the chair at her desk that faced the shared wall with the hallway. Yoko's twin-sized bed stood against one wall with its side only three feet from where Miyoko sat at the desk working on calligraphy. In Ursa's room the bed was over four yards from any of the four walls, queen-sized, and on a platform with for posts, a canopy above it, and curtains that hung around it. The difference was jarring, though Ursa did her best to hide it.

"You know you don't have to call me Princess, right? You're my sister," Ursa said, remaining standing in the doorway.

"I may be a dissident, but I am not impudent or ignorant. I know my place in the Palace, in the Nation, and in this family," Miyoko said, dipping her brush and continuing the practice of the character 'Ren' for something.

"What's it for?"

"A poster."

"Even during spring break?"

"The world doesn't stop turning, so why should I stop working?"

"Because we're supposed to be on family vacation?"

"Alas, unlike dear Mother, most people in this society are unable to just take a week off from work whenever we please and assign subordinates to take over all of our duties," Miyoko replied.

"It's unfortunate."

"It is just how things are." Miyoko said, dipping her brush again. "You can sit anywhere. I know there are not many options in here, but I don't mind where you choose."

Ursa hesitantly perched herself on the edge of the neatly made bed. "Look, I just wanted to apologize for my behavior recently. I know you didn't ask to be brought here or to be born into this fucked up family and I shouldn't be angry at you for our mom's poor decision making and I just- I wanted to call a truce…and to ask you to consent to coming to both the wedding and the subsequent coronation and become a Princess alongside me."

"I thought we were a threat," Miyoko replied, a hint of animosity in her voice. "At dinner you implied that-"

"I was just bitter and angry and didn't know how to cope with being lied to. Genkei is right. I don't want to be Fire Lord and you're right that Takeo would be best for the job anyways. He is a high-ranking general in the Fire Nation Army, he knows the people, and he has a good heart. He's not insecure and easily shaken like me. And...Mom's right in that it is awfully lonely being a princess without anybody. You're lucky you get to go to university and meet people your age."

"You're not alone. You have Huifan Yeshe-"

"Yes. We're just as close as Mom is to Suyin Beifong, but we never really get to see each other since we live on opposite sides of the world. Please, Miyoko if not for either of us, for Mom. Join me."

"The Royal Family doesn't need a dissident creating a stain in their family tree."

"Trust me, Miyoko, your little sign waving is nothing compared to what 60% of the Fire Lords in the last centuries have done to our family tree. Don't worry about staining anything."

"Do you want to know the real reason I joined the opposition, Ursa?" Miyoko asked Ursa.

"Why?"

"Because I saw how miserable being Princess made Mother. I saw how unhappy she was every time a messenger came to take her away from us. The more I read the more I came to hate the regime that treated the Royal Family as nothing more than a symbol. The absolute authority was an illusion created by the institution and growing up royal only ever meant sacrifice and duty for the stability of the nation. It honestly seemed like the lowest one could be in the social hierarchy. Mother was dehumanized, valued only for her fertility, and reduced to an object for trade and it made me so angry. I thought that by joining my organization and potentially ending the regime, I could possibly save at least part of Mother's life so that she could spend some time with me before she died. But she's in too deep. Her duty to her people had been ingrained into her brain too early. There is no saving her," Miyoko said sadly.

"How old were you when you decided to pursue this?"

"Ten maybe. I don't remember exactly when. She had been called away to deal with some northern chieftain of the Water Tribe and I was angry, because she had promised to take to the Sun Warrior's ancient civilization. She forgot about it completely. My father ended up accompanying me. I could have died that day. I could have been roasted alive. If I were unworthy of my own mother's attention, how could I be worthy enough to be entrusted with the secrets of firebending. I climbed the stairs crying because I knew she wouldn't even be there to say goodbye if I did get roasted alive. So I decided upon my return that I would do everything in my power to end the very thing that took my mother from me: the institution."

"Well, that institution is pretty much gone. Since Mother is kind of officially supreme ruler, she can make whatever changes she wants. I mean, I am a princess and I get to do essentially whatever I want."

"With or without her? I understand that we would both still have freedom to be whatever we want to be, but we're still without a Mother," Miyoko replied.

Ursa leaned forward and placed a hand on her sister's free one. "That will change. If today proved anything, it's that there's a chance for us to be a family."

* * *

The way the Beifong girls raved about Taemon Yamakatsu made Sunako sick to her stomach as she remembered the man's voice so very clearly once said, "Take the child. Kill her handler. Let there be no bloodshed." She shivered as she remembered that dreadful night. Sunako was young then, only eighteen years old when she lost her tongue and both her hands in that vicious fight. Only eighteen years old when Taemon Yamakatsu put an end to her happy life. Why then did she stay in the Fire Lord's service? One reason: Miyoko. Miyoko was her first friend and her best friend, and she was Miyoko's.

 _She was eighteen when she met the then-twelve-year-old girl. Miyoko looked up at Sunako with a pure, genuine sense of excitement._

" _Hello Miyoko, my name is Sunako and my job is to make sure nobody hurts you," Sunako explained to the girl._

" _I can protect myself, but if it makes my mother feel better, you can stay, under one condition."_

" _And what is that?"_

" _You play with me."_

" _Play?"_

" _You know! Like pai sho or kuai ball or mahzhong duel. As long as I don't get hurt, it's okay right?"_

" _Yes, I guess."_

" _Then let's go!" Miyoko said, dragging Sunako away excitedly._

 _Sunako laughed. This child was so full of energy, but still so sweet and kind. During meal times, when Sunako was supposed to stand guard, Miyoko invited her to sit at the table. She shared food with the civil servant at the table that was supposed to be reserved for the Royal Family._

" _I can't finish it all anyways and I hate to see it go to waste," Miyoko explained, looking longingly out the window._

" _Won't your parents come eat it with you?" Sunako asked._

" _No, they're always busy," Miyoko said sadly._

Sunako felt sad for the child. She realized then why Miyoko always invited Sunako to the table; nobody else ever came. The two went on all sorts of adventures throughout the palace and even in the capital city. They saw _the Boy in the Iceberg_ at the playhouse, they saw _Love Amongst the Dragons_ , they attended the Summer Solstice Festival, the Fall Winds Festival, and the Winter Spirits Festival together. For eight months, Sunako guarded Miyoko while she had her lessons with various tutors and teachers, and then once the girl was free, they explored the world together.

" _Sunako, can I tell you something?" Miyoko asked one night as they got ready for bed together._

" _Yes?" Sunako asked._

" _As much as I love you, Sunako, I sometimes still miss my Mommy," Miyoko explained._

 _Sunako's heart broke for her. Miyoko didn't deserve the neglect she received, but she could not avoid it. She was born too late in her mother's life, in a time when the public demanded their Fire Lord full time thinking all of her children were grown and away at school, busy with no need for her._

" _I bet, sweet girl," Sunako replied. "If it helps at all to know, I'll always be here, and I can tell her anything you want me to."_

" _Can you tell her, that it hurts me sometimes when she's not here?"_

" _I will," Sunako said. In tomorrow's report, I will._

"Sunako, do you happen to know where Huifan is?" Princess Ursa asked, bringing Sunako out of her own memories.

Sunako uncapped her bag of ink, not once breaking eye contact with the princess, not even to glance at the little sister beside her, Sunako's own former charge.

 _ **Radio Room**_ , Sunako replied **.**

"Thank you, Sunako," Princess Ursa said, walking away with Miyoko. Sunako followed.

"Isn't there somewhere you need to be, Sunako? You were heading in the opposite direction as us," Ursa asked the high-ranking member of the Amber League.

With the ink still hovering at her left nub, Sunako had to think quickly. _**I am to not leave you girls' side until the Fire Lord returns from her journey.**_

"Journey? But we're on vacation! Where is she going?"

 _ **Outer Isles. A large leap in progress has been made on a series of old abduction cases, linking them all. Those in the inner circle of the Amber League believe she will be gone for at least a few days, and because of it, she's heightened palace security, especially on you girls**_. Sunako wrote on her arm.

"Very well," Ursa said, accepting the story, continuing to walk with Miyoko to the Radio room.

Sunako hung her head as she walked. Her former charge didn't even recognize her, all of her memories of their adventures gone.

Sunako took a deep breath. Rinjuk would be easy to convince to let her stay by Miyoko's side, but if Ursa's handler, Genkei, came, she may not be so lucky.

* * *

Huifan, Opal, and Xiaoyu had just finished the call when the Princess arrived with Miyoko.

"You all look positively beaming, what happened?" Ursa asked Opal, Xiaoyu, and Huifan.

"We just got through speaking with Asami and Korra about boy stuff," Opal said.

"How juvenile," Ursa rolled her eyes.

"Hey, it's not our fault our mother kept us locked away for sixteen years. We simply don't know anything about interacting with people that aren't family!" Huifan explained.

Ursa smiled. "Anyways, there is someone I want you to meet. This is my little sister, Miyoko. Yoko, this is Huifan, Xiaoyu, and Opal. Huifan and Xiaoyu both belong to Lin Beifong and Opal belongs to Suyin."

"And you're Uncle Saru's?" Huifan asked Miyoko with kind, welcoming emerald eyes.

"Yes," Miyoko answered with a small bow.

"Why do you bow to us when we are not even royal?" Xiaoyu asked genuinely curiously.

"It has nothing to do with being royal. It's just—a customary thing to do when one meets a stranger here, I suppose. How do you greet strangers in the Earth Kingdom?" Miyoko asked even though she already knew the answer.

"The same," Opal answered. "With a bow."

"But you're not a stranger, Miyoko! You're family so you get the Beifong punch to the arm, because that's how we show affection!" Huifan declared proudly jabbing the eighteen-year-old in the shoulder.

Sunako could tell Miyoko was trying to hide her shock. Usually her emotions were under much more control, but the recent string of events had left her nonetheless… a bit shaken.

"It's no wonder Father fled," she muttered, rubbing the forming bruise. Fortunately, no one heard.

Opal clasped her hands together with excitement. "Where have you been the last few days? Do you live in the palace?"

"Actually, I live in the dorms at Ranshao Rikai university. I am a second-year student there," Miyoko answered clearly. "This is only my third day home."

"Wait! You go to school?! What is it like? Is it crowded?"

"Kind of…"

"Do you have a lot of friends?"

"Well I have a… best friend and a couple of other friends…" Miyoko replied.

 _ **Ikta Soren is not your best friend, he is your boyfriend. I was your best friend. Even if you don't remember it clearly, your mind is not letting you replace me.**_

"Are your classes difficult?"

"More or less…"

"What do you study?"

"Political Science…"

"Naturally and—"

"Spirits, guys, let her breathe!" Ursa interrupted.

"Thank you," Miyoko whispered.

"So what have you spent the last two days that you were home doing?"

"Avoiding everybody. Forgive me, I didn't want to intrude on your family…"

"Miyoko, how could you possibly intrude on our family when you ARE family?" Huifan asked. "It's funny that you an Izumi both seem to forget that you are one of us." Opal, Xiaoyu, Huifan, and Ursa laughed at the youngest cousin's apologetic nature.

"You know what is also funny?" Ursa asked.

"Enlighten me," Miyoko replied tilting her head slightly with a timid smile.

"You grew up outside of the palace, and yet ou act exactly like a perfect Princess Izumi pre-reform. I grew up in the palace and act more like your grandma Toph."

"I wonder why," Xiaoyu contemplated.

"There is nature and there is nurture. Perhaps I simply have more of Grandma Mai in me, and perhaps your behavior could partially be attributed to that good decade you spent as a nomadic vagabond out drinking every hippie you came across." Miyoko suggested.

"Was that supposed to be an insult?" Opal asked with uncertainty.

"Not at all!" Ursa replied. "It is just a statement of fact. My traveling days were… to say the least… filled with things better left unmentioned."

Huifan, Xiaoyu, and Opal all laughed. Even Miyoko smiled slightly as she very slowly warmed up to her cousins.

* * *

The airship was being packed with medical supplies, food, healers, therapists, maps, and copies of the national record for every person from that region as collected and archived by the Amber League. Like most cases that reached the palace, Izumi expected this one to be dealt with swiftly and silently. All she needed was the help of a proper detective.

She had already noticed some discrepancies in the reports collected by the investigator from Shu Jing that had been left for her, but wanted to verify that there wasn't anything else off or missing.

Izumi entered the Lavender Rose Parlor to find her future in-laws all lounging around with tea after a restful morning watching Rikuto, Hungjian, Wing, and Wei bout it out in the new power disk arena constructed deep in Azula's Quarter of the palace. "Forgive the intrusion," Izumi began to say before being cut off by her future mother in law.

"What did I say about you and your damn sorries?" Toph chastised Izumi, slamming her cup down on the coffee table before kicking up her feet.

Izumi winced. "Father, please," she begged the former Fire Lord who sat next to Katara rather closely.

"Toph, leave her alone, please," Zuko asked.

"If she's gonna be a be a Beifong, she might as well start acting like one and not apologizing for existing ever time she walks into a damn room." Toph mumbled.

"If I recall correctly, she is becoming a Lee, not a Beifong," Katara responded.

"Right, Lee," Toph grumbled.

"If I may proceed, Lin, I am afraid I need to ask for your assistance," Izumi announced.

"Based on the fact that you're back in those awfully uncomfortable dress robes and wearing your crown again, I'm betting something bad has happened or is happening," Lin inferred, standing up willingly.

"A detective from Shu Jing discovered an detail in a kidnapping case that connects not only it to another but to a total of three hundred and sixty seven abductions that have all occurred in the last decade," Izumi informed the group after quickly determining that everyone present had high enough security clearance in their respective nations of origin to be trusted with the information.

"Spirits, Zumi!" Suyin exclaimed, sitting up. "How could you let so many abductioins occur in such a short amount of time?"

Izumi turned to her, clearly offended, and almost forgetting their soon to be familial relations. "So many? Need I remind you that the Earth Kingdom sees more than four times that many abductions in a single day with only three fourths of our population?" She snapped defensively with narrowed eyes, glaring. Suyin held her hands up in surrender, not willing to further engage the Fire Lord at the moment.

"That aside, how can we help?" Baatar asked putting down his newspaper from Ba Sing Se.

"Actually, I was hoping just to steal Lin and maybe Tenzin away since they are both retired and….available to help with overseas issues. Under different circumstances, I would also invite Su, but I fear that her involvement could have some unfavorable ramifications for all of us considering her status as Earth Queen. Besides, Lin is a former Police Chief and has experience dealing with crimes like these," Izumi replied.

"Well good luck, I didn't even want to help anyways," Suyin responded, kicking her feet up.

"Thanks," Izumi replied, purposefully ignoring the sarcasm that laced Suyin's voice.

"So what gets the Fire Lord involved with these kinds of petty cases? Aren't there local or regional law enforcement agencies responsible for things such as these?" Tenzin asked Izumi.

"That is the thing. The local authorities have failed. There is no reason for a cluster of islands with as many resources as I have provided to overlook such a critical common detail that appears in almost every disappearance there in the last decade. Many of these cases went cold for years and the missing children declared legally dead. Recent evidence gathered by wealthier families of some of the victims indicate local authorities may be involved in some high-scale cover-up. One family even went as far as hiring a prominent detective from Shu Jing who discovered a pattern in how the public police reports were written and a plethora of other minor similarities, which suggests that the group of people running this ring work in tandem with the government. The parents are currently planning to take the information and march on the streets of their respective island in four days. To avoid international scrutiny, we are going to find the children, and return them to their families BEFORE that happens," Izumi explained to Lin and Tenzin.

"If this thing was so well covered up for so long, how did you hear about it?" Lin asked.

"The Amber League," Izumi answered. "As I have told you, my advisers are absolutely useless. I rely on the Amber League to serve as my secret police. It is responsible for providing me with reconnaissance on any possibly illicit activity occurring in the Fire Nation."

"And what have they managed to find on these kidnappings?"

"Surprisingly very little," Izumi responded.

"And they're experts at conducting stings and covering their trails?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever once considered they might be responsible for the kidnappings?" Lin asked, seeing the connection immediately.

"Impossible! Such an endeavor would be incredibly costly and immoral! None of my regional leads would ever authorize such a horrible operation!" Izumi promptly dismissed. "They know I would personally destroy them!"

The three were nearly at Izumi's office when a messenger came racing towards them. "My Lord!" He gasped, out of breath, handing Izumi a telegram.

"Yes?" Izumi asked, taking it. Her eyes narrowed and her brows furrowed in anger.

"What has happened?" Tenzin asked.

"The detective that that one family hired from Shu Jing has been found dead in his home from an apparent triple-murder-suicide, his wife and two children the other victims."

"That is…. Incredibly inconvenient," Lin replied sarcastically, glancing at the telegram.

"A word of caution for both of you before we begin this investigation," Izumi warned. "Well, more of a reminder. This is the Fire Nation and NOT Republic City or the Earth Kingdom. While there are procedures for handling information, suspects, witnesses, local authorities, high-profile, time-sensitive information, and the victims of these cases, none of those procedures apply to me."

"But nobody is above the law!" Lin exclaimed.

"This is not Republic City. This is the Fire Nation; I am the law."


	46. 2,16 Taking Action

**Chapter 16: Taking Action**

* * *

The Fire Lord's brood never was a very boisterous at dinner, but when placed in the same room as their Beifong Cousins, seemed to transform into entirely different people.

As children, the sons and daughter of Masaru and Izumi were taught that the wellbeing of the family was of utmost importance and that included the preservation of the family's reputation. The children grew up in secrecy, with nobody knowing anything about their history as they were never allowed to speak of their true lineage. Some became reclusive, consumed by their secrets while others became outwardly extroverted, often feeling like performers in their own lives having to wear masks to hide their true feelings. The never-ending show seemed necessary to keep the peace for their friends and families.

At one table, Taemon, Tetsuya, Huan, Jinkun, and Sasuke were engaged in some very passionate, yet reserved discussion on the state of the international economic situation among other political matters. At another table, Tatsuya, ever the competitor, was challenging Wei to an armwrestling match while Hungjian, Wing, and Rikuto looked on jovially all with drinks in their hands after having shooed the three youngest boys in the family: Kang, Meelo, and Rohan, away.

At a third table, the three youngest boys sat with Ikki, their Uncle Bumi, and Aunt Kya observing the rest of the family interact while listening to their Uncle Bumi's hilarious commentary. His humor quickly made them forget how upset they were when they were told they weren't old enough to remain at the former table when the cactus juice began to flow.

At a fourth table. Huifan, Jiexue, Xiaoyu, Jinora, Opal, Ursa, and Miyoko sat sharing tales about their very limited exposure to the world outside of their own homes. The Fire Nation girls and Opal were absolutely enraptured by their cousins' telling of their Father's estranged second wife descent into a jealous sort of insanity upon hearing that Tenzin had a wife, a life, and six children before marrying her.

 _So, Izumi and Masaru weren't the only ones hiding their children for their own safety?_ Sunako thought to herself as she stood along the wall of the Earthen Hall with Rinuk. Daisuke, Fenjing, Unako, and Rinjuk, watching the night's proceedings carefully. Takeo and Iroh were both absent from this dinner due to some last-minute emergency at their respective military bases. They were generals of the highest rank in the Fire Nation and United Forces respectively and could have EASILY taken the week off in peacetime, which led Sunako suspected they were simply avoiding any more potentially awkward confrontations. While none of the handlers were present during that disastrous family dinner in the Cherry Blossom Galley, Sunako managed to get all of the details out of a server that happened to be there that night and who happened to be conveniently frightened of amputees.

Nothing seemed at all out of place until Taemon strode over to the table where Masaru was dining with his littlest sister, the Earth Queen, and her husband, the architect, Baatar Senior.

"Mr. Lee," Taemon said bowing to Masaru, his voice echoing over the noise. Sunako turned her attention away from Miyoko for a second to focus on the former ward of Masaru and Izumi. "Your… majesty," he added bowing respectively to Suyin, easily flattering her with that stupid grin that convinced everyone of his innocence.

"And who might you be?" Suyin asked with a pleased smile.

"Taemon Lee," he replied pleasantly.

"He was our ward," Masaru explained. "…and a student of Iroh's at the Royal Firebendng Academy in his youth." Masaru answered for the boy.

"Oh?" Suyin asked lifting a chin and a brow curiously. "And how did you come into the Fire Lord's house hold?"

"Both of my parents were killed when I was eight. The Academy dismissed me after discovering that my father had left me nothing, but a legacy of debts hidden by our good name. There was no one to pay my tuition. Not wanting to see me reduced to a thieving street rat, our good prince tok me home and convinced his mother and Mr. Lee to sponsor my education, and later, adopt me."

"I'm so sorry to hear that!" Suyin exclaimed sincerely with her hand over her heart.

"Don't be," Taemon replied skillfully. "It is all behind us and I am in a better place now. I could not be more grateful for all MAsary and Izumi have done for me."

"So what brings you over this evening? I am sure it wasn't to divulge your life story to the Earth Queen, and your new Aunty." Masaru inquired resting his forearm on the back of his chair.

"Right! Well," He paused feigning nervousness. "In the absence of both the Lady Lin Beifong and the Master Tenzin, I thought it'd make the most sense if I were to ask you for permission to take Huifan on a date tomorrow, by the old quarry lakes, if she is willing."

"A date?" Suyin asked, turning to Masaru with intrigue. "I didn't know dates required parent permission at this age unless marriage was imminent."

"It is customary in the Fire Nation, especially when the woman of interest has Huifan's standing." Masaru explained.

"Standing?"

"Her father is the Grand Master of the Air Nomads, her mother is OFFICIALLY the Lady Beifong of Gaoling, one Aunt is the Earth Queen and another the Fire Lord. Her grandfather was the Avatar…" Masaru listed out.

"Right, sometimes I forget that we're all kind of…. Up there in society." Suyin replied. She was never old enough to join her big sister, her boyfriend, his siblings and the Fire Princess at all of those hoity toity events in Republic City decades ago. An age difference of six years wasn't that much, but it meant that she was often left alone while her sister and their friends went on with their lives. With so much freedom at such a young age, she became a street rat, a triad member, and an exile by the age of 16; as such, she never got a taste of the high life they lived as the children of war heros. She never experienced the grueling formalities or empty mingling, and she certainly never endured the flurry of balls and cotillions that marked their status in society.

"You're not just a wealthy dance teacher in a metal city, Su," Masaru reminded her affectionately.

Suyin thought for a moment then returned her attention to Taemon. "If you have lasted this long in the Fire Lord's keep, then I see no reason to not trust you with my darling niece. You may ask Huifan on a date and take her to the Quarry Lakes if she is willing."

Taemon beamed almost childishly. Sunako frowned as she watched. "Thank you!" He said bowing before hurrying over to the girls' table.

Sunako wanted to gag when she saw the metalbending prodigy gladly accept his invitation. Sunako became torn. She was not only monitoring her former charge, but also covering for Genkei as the Princess Ursa's handler while he accompanied the Fire Lord to the outer isles. Still, if Taemon was able to manipulate Huifan into joining him with whatever he was planning, it would be disastrous not just for the family, but likely for the world. Sunako had heard of her prowess in the most recent defense of Republic City and how she managed to bloodbend the disgraced former President and his brother, overpowering a waterbending bloodbender to escape rape.

Sunako looked back at the two daughters of Izumi with a heavy sigh of despair. She would have to remain at the Palace and trust that the Lady Lin Beifong taught her daughter well enough to be cautious around good-looking men with long hair.

* * *

That night, the girls decided to have a sleepover in the Princess's Chambers. The queen-sized bed that usually stood in the center of the room had been earthbent aside by the only earthbending girl of her generation in this family and replaced by a massive bunk bed in the shape of a letter that stood three beds high to accommodate Ursa, Miyoko, Opal, Huifan, Jiexue, Xiaoyu, Jinora, and Ikki, with one extra bed for all of the stuffed animals belonging to the youngest airbending girl.

The girls spent the next hour or so gathering spare mattresses and blankets from all ends of the Palace for everyone except the earthbender girl to sleep comfortably.

"Will Sunako stay the night with us?" Jinora asked Ursa, knowing that Sunako wasn't much of a talker these days.

"She is allowed to if she would like," Ursa replied. "Technically, only she, Iliana, Marnie, and mother are allowed even in my room without permission from the Mother-Lord"

"Is she the only female guard?" Huifan asked.

"The only female handler from the Amber League. She's not just a Palace Guard," Ursa replied. "There are other female guards, but none are as skilled as Sunako."

"In firebending?" Opal asked climbing into a bunk underneath Xiaoyu.

"Water," Ursa replied climbing onto a bunk above Huifan and under Jiexue.

"She's a Waterbender?" Ikki exclaimed climbing into a bunk above her stuffed animals and under Miyoko. "Then why is she so highly ranked in the Fire Lord's guard?"

"Because the Fire Lord understands that you can't always effectively fight fire with more fire," Miyoko replied with a certain finality in her tone as she extinguished the fire torches with a wave of her hand.

"You crash early," Jiexue commented with a smirk.

"Unlike you, I had to endure a dance lesson with the Earth Queen today. The woman's a beastly teacher! I don't know how the Metal Clan made it past its first year under her unyielding thumb!" Miyoko replied.

"Hey, that's my mother you're dissing!" Opal teased.

"They don't call me a dissssssident for no reason," Miyoko replied, jokingly emphasizing her position on the fringes of the royal Fire Nation family.

Huifan, Xiaoyu and Jinora all laughed.

"What's a dissident?" Ikki asked.

"A person who openly opposes official policy, especially that of an authoritarian state," Miyoko defined.

"OOOOOOOOOohhhhh! Wait! But isn't your mother and your aunt the heads of authoritarian states?" Ikki asked.

"Yes, but unlike most, I can separate politics from family. Now can we go to bed?" Miyoko asked.

"But we're not yet done talking!" Ursa replied, seeing several furious nods of agreement in the moonlight.

"So can we have the lights back?" Ikki asked.

"You don't need light to keep talking," Miyoko responded dully.

"But—but—"

"If you really need the torches lit again, I am sure the Princess will happily do it for you. I, on the other hand am far too tired," Miyoko replied, rolling over under her blanket.

"And grumpy!" Ikki added, eliciting laughs from everybody including Miyoko and Sunako.

* * *

After Izumi abandoned them to meet with regional leads of her Amber League, Lin and Tenzin decided to go to the main investigation tent and see what evidence they had to work with. They spent a good few hours and a couple cups of coffee going over file after file, each more troubling than the last. They had been conveniently organized by date.

"Correlations?" Lin asked Tenzin after a while.

"The victims get younger as we approach present day. You got anything yet?" Tenzin asked.

"They all can bend fire AND lightning OR are benders of mixed descent," Lin replied.

 _How odd,_ thought Tenzin. For most of history, lightning had been an extremely rare ability limited to those who could afford masters of the very exclusive bending art. "I didn't realize it had become so common outside the Royal Family." Tenzin mused, absentmindedly shuffling around some more papers with a furrowed brow.

"The current chief of police learned it on the streets of Republic City. Being able to do it wasn't rare, it was its mastery.. To this day, mastering lightning-bending is still uncommon outside the Royal Family," Lin replied.

"Was uncommon outside the royal family," Izumi corrected her, entering the room looking both mentally and physically drained after her meeting with the regional leads of the Amber League. "We started teaching it in the Royal Firebending Academy a few decades ago. In an attempt to put an end to the toxic elitism among the upper classes, we began admitting pupils from the lower classes born on the islands of the outer isles to the academy. Any bender, if powerful enough, could test into the Royal Academy. Most joined the Nation's army immediately after achieving proficiency, the best were recruited to the Amber League, and the rest allowed to return home to open up their own bending schools to teach what they learned at the prestigious school of bending. For every teacher we released, we sent with them a member of the Amber League so that we could track everyone who could generate and/or redirect lightning."

"Why would you need such information?" Tenzin asked, leaning back in his seat.

"For economic purposes." Izumi explained. "We needed to see what islands and regions could potentially defend themselves from a small-scale invasion and which ones would benefit more from the presence of a military base. It takes a firebender of a certain caliber with a superior amount of self control to be able to generate/redirect lightning. Those benders more powerful than others and could potentially defend their own island without our intervention."

"Why would they need to? Don't the bases have sufficient resources to reach all of the islands?"

"After the Hundred Year War, the retributions placed on us by the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes forced us to drastically reduce the size of our standing military. We had to become more efficient with what we were allowed to maintain. In light of that, I decided to collect data on the relative strength of every island and invest on building new, more advanced bases where needed and decommission the old ones in the more wealthy, self sufficient regions and repurpose their pieces. No matter what the other countries try to take, we will never be left a weak nation."

Izumi stood and walked over to the map of the outer islands that hung on the wall, the map a rainbow due to its color coding.

"The visible light spectrum correlates with the dates of the abductions. The assailants appeared to have targeted one island at a time. In the beginning, they took between two and six children at a time over the course of a few months before moving onto the next island. As time passed, the clusters grew. The group must have become better organized, more efficient, or both."

"They have been gaining confidence with time," Lin commented, seeing five red pins all squished at different angles into the same tiny island on the map. "Who has access to the census data on people's bending ability?"

"There's a regional archive center for each cluster of islands containing a population of between two and eight million people. Each center is manned by a team of a dozen with level four government security clearance and a chief archivist with level eight government security clearance who can access any data beyond birthplace, birthdates, and ethnicities," Izumi answered.

"How do you enforce that no level fours get into the bending data?" Tenzin asked.

"The level eights need to request a level ten to unlock the doors," Izumi responded. "Maybe we should conduct a spontaneous audit on the next archivist who requests access to the bending data, because it doesn't seem to be a coincidence that not a single one of the missing children are non-benders or even benders of only fire," Lin suggested. "And can we have a list of those with level 10 clearance?"

"Yes, but I must destroy it after you memorize every name on the list," Izumi replied.

"Fair enough," Lin shrugged.

Feng Au

Arnat Bahn

Shihuan Cao

Tetsuya Lee

Toshiro Miyuki

Norikano Niemi

Aiko Suzuki

Menglong Tang

Xu Han Wong

Duu Lam Zhi

Izumi held it up for them to see. "Tell me when you're done," Izumi said patiently.

Lin didn't need much time. Memorizing ten names was easy. "Done!" The paper went up in blue flames and turned to ash instantly.

"Wait!" Tenzin choked on the ashes.

"Sorry, Tenz," Lin sighed. She'd forgotten just how much slower he was than her at reading. "Zumi, are the level tens assigned to specific regions?"

"No, they're all based out of the palace, but are free to come and go as they please," Izumi answered.

"So they can answer a request from any region?" Lin asked. _If they can find the level ten that's been accessing the archives of this region, maybe they could find the source of this operation._

"They're all granted that clearance for a reason!" Izumi yelled with a dismissive undertone to her voice. "They can be trusted!" she insisted, opening the door. "Genkei, intercept all requests to access the bending archives and forward them to me without the receiver knowing."

"Yes, my Lord," Genkei replied, saluting before running off to alert the proper branch of the Amber League. He returned almost immediately after. "My Lord, one went through just yesterday in the Huang-vinh region," Genkei informed them.

Izumi scanned the map quickly. There were already seven pins in that region each denoting a missing person.

"And when is the call to be answered?" Izumi asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Genkei replied.

"We go then," Izumi decided.

* * *

"I don't want to do another dance class with my aunt," Miyoko whined as a piece of parchment floated in front of her face, Sunako following.

 _ **It will be good to bond with your cousins—**_ Sunako responded.

"I am not interested. I have banners I must complete before the end of the week! I've spent enough time recreating!"

 _ **Miyoko, please—**_ Sunako begged.

"Why do you even care so much that I bond with them anyways? Why do you even care about me? Rinjuk is my handler. I thought you were SUPPOSED to be following the Princess for Genkei!" Miyoko asked.

 _ **We switched—**_

"But WHY?" Miyoko asked, annoyed.

Just then, Tetsuya appeared out of the office behind Miyoko. Sunako's eyes narrowed over the young lady's shoulder.

"Miyoko! Sunako! What a pleasure to see you both!"

"Brother," Miyoko mumbled.

"You seem bothered," Tetsuya commented pointedly.

"Sunako has insisted taking over for Rinjuk as my handler, switching places with Ursa, and now she wants me to participate in some dance class with the Earth Queen," Miyoko replied with frustration.

"If you were interested in an alternative, I could use some help with an experiment. I would normally my dearest brother, Tatsu, but I expect he is in the midst of beating up some deserving sentry for laziness or possibly a lack of competence," Tetsuya offered.

Sunako's eyes narrowed in hatred even more.

"I am no alchemist, sorry," Miyoko replied, walking past him.

"It has nothing to do with alchemy. Only fire and lightning."

"I don't bend unless I have no choice."

"Then at least come watch the experiment and tell me if it is working."

"And how am I supposed to be able to know if it is or isn't?"

"I will explain what you should be looking for. Please, sister, it is a highly confidential experiment that is vital to the growth of progress of our great nation," Tetsuya replied.

Still not convinced, Miyoko muttered, "Fine."

"Thank you, Sister."

Sunako followed diligently, testing her bloodbending on the man in the office that Tetsuya just exited, pulling him out in a state of dazed confusion.

"Just—going to get some tea," the man said, quickly running off.

"Thanks again, for covering the call for me, Miyuki!" Tetsuya yelled after him in an uncharacteristically cheerful voice.

 _Covering the call?_ Sunako thought to herself. Something wasn't right.

* * *

Izumi wore her hair all pulled back into a bun with a small red flame decoration, not a single strand out of place. She had changed out of her formal robes into civilian clothes consisting of wide-legged pants, a red dress with long, wide sleeves, and a long black vest over everything, knives and daggers concealed up both legs and sleeves.

Lin wore a simple deep burgundy pair of pants with black leather boots with the soles cut out and a deep red shirt with a golden ribbon tied at her waist. Tenzin wore a black and red shirt that buttoned up the middle with some ballooning black pants tucked into dark leather boots, with a hat over his head covering his arrow and fingerless leather gloves covering on his hands.

"So who exactly maintains the census?" Lin asked. "The Amber League, or the official government?"

"It is a joint endeavor," Izumi replied stiffly.

"And how will you prove your superior security clearance?"

"If it is necessary, with this," Izumi said opening her hand to reveal a small blue flame. "Only four people in the world have ever been able to do it in recent history: my aunt, Azula, my two daughters, and me."

"That is an awfully convenient identifier," Lin replied.

"It is. Hopefully we will not have to expose ourselves though and can just sneak in after the level ten that comes to open the door," Izumi said as they entered the library. They began to peruse the magazine section nearby the exit when the official from the palace came to the front desk.

"Hello, how may I help you?" the librarian asked the man dressed in the robes of a nobleman.

"I am Toshiro Miyuki returning a request the archivist submitted to access the archives," the man replied.

"Miyuki? I have never heard of that name before. Let me just go check with the archivist," the librarian replied, retreating to a back room for a few moments. "The archivist says that he no longer needs to access the records, thank you. Your services are not required."

"That's odd. Every archivist knows the consequences of a false call," Miyuki replied, walking behind the desk anyways, proceeding with caution as the librarian took a few steps back, stunned.

Just then the archivist emerged from a back room and attacked the level ten.

"Now!" Izumi yelled. Lin and Tenzin attacked with earth and air while Izumi threw several knives, pinning the librarian and the archivist. To the wall. She strode over brandishing a blue flame in her hand. "Open the door, Miyuki," she ordered.

"My Lord." He bowed, then unlocked the door with a special bending technique.

Izumi held the archivist's hands for Lin to bind in metal cables, then she grabbed him by the neck.

"Tenzin, you may want to stay out here," Izumi suggested before pushing the archivist towards the open door. "Keep watch for civilians and hostiles. Knock thrice if you see anybody."

"Will do," Tenzin replied.

"Now you, show us to a soundproof room," Izumi ordered the archivist.

He didn't move. Izumi turned to the level ten, Toshiro Miyuki. "Have you ever serviced this sight?" Izumi asked.

"No, my lord," Miyuki replied.

Izumi closed the door behind Lin and raised a hand to Miyuki. He knelt before her and bowed his head. She touched the back of it and sent electricity through his body. He struggled to contain his pain and show no expression, and he didn't, for a long time as his body convulsed and his face contorted in pain.

"Stop it! Stop it, you're hurting him!" Lin yelled, shocked that her friend would willingly torture a subject.

"Remember what I said about this being the Fire Nation, and NOT the United Republic Lin. I am merely conducting a standard test," Izumi replied expressionlessly. She amplified the current being sent through his body, counting the seconds before he screamed.

"I serve the Fire Nation in whatever way my Fire Lord sees fit. Balance is key, but sometimes, a heavy hand is necessary," Miyuki recited weakly.

Izumi turned to the archivist crouched on the floor in chains. "Who wanted access to the archives?"

"It was just me, I swear it! I only meant to do some dusting so that when someone actually needs the information, it can be clear and easy to read!" the man blurted out.

Lin scowled as she listened to the man. _Sight could be deceiving_ , Toph had always told her. _It is only with the heart and the feet that one can see truly; trust your instincts_.

"Bullshit," Izumi deadpanned. Lin hated to admit it, but she agreed with the Fire Lord's assessment. "Who has been coming for the information, and what have you been giving them?"

"Nothing, my Lord! I swear it!"

Izumi looked at Lin, who reluctantly spoke. "We both know you're lying, Archivist," Lin said, closing her eyes as Izumi touched her hand to the man, making him writhe in agony. Lin turned away. After a few minutes, Izumi broke for him to take a breath before touching his arm again.

"How long are you going to do this?" Lin demanded.

"Until he breaks," Miyuki replied knowingly.

"Everybody has a limit, his is low, I know it. Someone easily implanted fear in him, but I can make him fear me more," Izumi said, touching both hands to him.

"My Lord!" He gasped. "My lord! You would not believe the power they possess! They've done it!" he choked. "They've crossed over! They mean to convert others!"

"Who!" Izumi demanded, standing up.

"I don't know!" the archivist cried.

"Liar!" Izumi yelled, reaching out to torture him again.

"He really doesn't know!" Lin confirmed, grabbing Izumi's wrist.

"They call themselves RL-1!" the archivist explained.

"How long have they been using you to get into the archives?"

"A decade at least!"

"Who do they usually ask for?"

"Lightning benders, and half-breeds."

"Half-breeds?"

"People of mixed heritage."

"This is impossible!" Izumi exclaimed, looking down and away angrily.

"What is going on? What is he talking about with 'crossing-over' and half-breeds'?" Lin asked.

"A while ago, there used to be a cult of benders who thought they could mediate their way to being able to bend a second element. It would appear they have a new following and are trying to raise an army out of the children from the fringes of my nation," Izumi explained to Lin and Tenzin. She turned her attention back to the man groveling on the floor. "For your failure to perform your duty as a loyal citizen of the Fire Nation, you will face ten years of grade F surveillance and be stripped of your security clearance."

"My Lord, mercy! Please! If they find out I have lost my post, if I can no longer serve them, they WILL kill my family! Surveillance is not enough!"

"Then show me to your family and THEY will receive asylum. You on the other hand, are just as guilty as the barbarians that dare think to rip children from their homes," Izumi replied.

"I didn't know!" the man replied. "I didn't know that was what they were doing!"

"You didn't know? You just told us they call themselves RL-1 and that they managed to cross over and are specifically asking for lightningbenders and half-breeds! You know EXACTLY what they are doing!"

Lin bent down and touched the floor.

"What are you sensing?" Izumi asked.

"His lies aren't the only inconsistent thing," Lin responded. It was so strange. It felt like the man had some training against truth-seeing, but must have failed the coursework miserably, for the lies that were supposed to replace the truths were just as shaky. Who was he working for?

* * *

"Dai, leave us, please," Tetsuya ordered his handler.

"Sunako, may we please have some privacy," Miyoko asked politely.

 _ **My orders are to protect you**_ , she quickly wrote out.

"I understand, but Tetsuya is my blood brother. I shouldn't need protection from him," Miyoko replied.

 _ **Shouldn't doesn't mean you don't need it,**_ Sunako protested, starting for the door.

"Listen to the daughter of your Fire Lord Sunako," Tetsuya ordered, slamming the door. Sunako stopped it with her forearm and looked up into Tetsuya's Amber eyes with pure loathing.

 _ **Hurt her, and you will never breathe again for I will freeze every drop of blood in your spirit forsaken body and crush you into a billion shards of crystallized water!**_ Sunako threatened, removing her water hand from the door allowing it to close behind Miyoko.

"Sister, I— I wanted to apologize," Tetsuya said, sitting at his desk, facing Miyoko.

"I thought you wanted to conduct an experiment."

"I just needed to get Sunako off your back. I wanted to talk to you—"

"I'm not much of a talker, if you haven't already noticed," Miyoko replied, starting to leave.

"Please, Yoko! At least hear me. I am sorry I have not reached out to you as your brother. Being a member of the Amber League and a personal servant to the Fire Lord has left me incredibly busy—"

"I'm sure it has—" Miyoko mumbled. She didn't expect she'd ever like that particular brother since she despised the Fire Lord and worked tirelessly to unseat the woman and end her Amber League.

"But I firmly believe that our desires align at the present time."

"How could they possibly?" Miyoko asked suspiciously.

"You despise the Fire Lord and the Amber League. It is no secret.".

"Yes."

"Well it is a secret that so do I. I want to ask you to join me, Miyoko. My ten years in the service of the Amber League have been enlightening from an educational and political perspective. I can show you powers you could never imagine wielding on your own, and together, we can rid the world of those two entities and free both our mother and the rest of the country from their brutally immoral methods of keeping the peace. All can be done without harming our dearest mother in the least," Tetsuya told her, bending down to look into her matching amber eyes.

"What you're suggesting is treason!" Miyoko yelled angrily.

"Treason for a free Fire Nation! Think of all of your friends at university, your organization and all of those oppressed by the Fire Lord's policy enforced by her secret police. Miyoko, we could change things!"

Miyoko sighed.

"You're a powerful bender, but you suppress your power, and I know why. It reminds you of the time you were forgotten, left to face the dragons on your own. I too have been forgotten so many times! We are SO much alike, Miyoko! Please! I need my sister, my TRUE sister beside me in the battle to come. Miyoko—"

Miyoko stood and grabbed his wrist where his hand moved to touch her arm. She bent it backwards. "I will help you return our mother to our family, but I will not help you destroy the government. Not completely, at least. One thing you should know about me, I cannot stand seeing a grown ass man groveling at a person's feet, especially a member of my own family," Miyoko growled, releasing his wrists.

"That is even more than I would have expected, thank you, Miyoko!" Tetsuya exclaimed.

"I will return here at precisely nine sixteen tomorrow morning for more details, but until then, don't bother me. I need room to think," Miyoko growled, leaving the room quickly to be picked up by Sunako.

"If I go to the fucking dance class, will you leave me alone?" Miyoko asked.

Sunako thought for a moment, remembering the exchange in Tetsuya's lab and nodded.

* * *

"RL-1– that must stand for something!" Lin exclaimed, furiously pacing in their residential tent.

"Red? For Fire?" Tenzin suggested.

"It makes sense," Lin replied.

"It stands for Rogue," Izumi said quietly, laying on her bed in her Grand Fire Lord Robes. "Rogue League." Izumi said running her fingers through her grey hair.

Just then the door to the tent was thrown open.

Izumi bolted upright.

"Sunako! You are supposed to be by Ursa's side!"

 _ **Forgive me, My Lord. In my place, BOTH Hiryur and Tadashi guard her. I had to come. I could trust no other! Taemon and Tetsuya are up to something! I fear the nation may be in danger, your family especially!**_

"They ARE my family! My sons! You DARE accuse them of conspiracy?"

 _ **This is not be the first time and will not be the last! My lord, listen to me, please!**_

"I don't have time for another one of your baseless conspiracy theories about the twins and—" Izumi began to say starting for the door, past Lin, Tenzin, and Sunako.

Sunako slammed the door with her waterbending and covered the handle and froze it then shoved the paper between the Fire Lord and the door.

 _ **It's not baseless!**_ _ **Taemon has managed to get Huifan Yeshe to cross over, to water of all things!**_

"Impossible!" Izumi replied, kicking the door clean off its hinges.

Sunako covered the entire frame in ice then turned the Fire Lord to face her paper, holding her neck and head still so she would read.

"You— you dare use bloodbending against me? Your own Fire Lord? You are a member of the highest order of the Amber League!"

 _ **Yes, and upon joining,**_ _**You made me swear to give everything for the wellbeing of YOUR famil**_ _ **y, so that they may keep the peace in our Great Nation!**_ Sunako replied silently.

Izumi's eyes narrowed. "But crossing over is impossible."

 _ **It isn't. You said so yourself on numerous occasions after returning from your extended stays at the Beifong Estate in Republic City. The girl took to more of Kya's teachings than yours and even modified the water wheel to suit her needs and then octopus technique—**_

"Those could have just been convenience! Isolated events!"

 _ **You have the ability to rob people of their memories!**_ _ **Take mine and see for yourself what your soon-to-be niece is capable of doing! See Huifan going through the motions and doing the forms WITH THE WATER OBEYING!**_ Sunako ordered, yanking the paper aside seemingly instantaneously knowing that the Fire Lord read quickly enough to see everything. Sunako bloodbent the Fire Lord across the room and placed the older woman's hand on her own head and released her hold on the blood. _**DO IT!**_ Sunako cried silently.

Izumi dropped her hands and turned away. "I'm sorry, but I am a little busy right now if you haven't noticed—" Izumi brushed her off.

Sunako twitched with fury. _**LOOK AT ME!**_ Big bold letters spelled out on the page as Izumi's body turned to it.

"Maybe YOU are the traitor turning your colleagues rogue!" Izumi suggested.

Sunako's face changed from fury to hurt. _**I am not the rogue and I am not a traitor! YOU are betraying your own family by disregarding my warning. Tetsuya has aligned himself with Miyoko. He invited her to join him in taking down the Fire Lord and returning their mother to their family! I heard it!**_

 _ **I will return to the palace, but before I do, let me remind you:**_ _ **When I was eighteen years old and inducted into the league, you made me swear an oath to protect Miyoko Lee to the best of my abilities and I fully intend to do so until I die.**_ _**Miyoko is not just a former charge to me! She was like a sister and nothing— no memory you can take away from her or me can change that, Fire Lord Izumi! If Tetsuya is planning get her to cross-over to another element J**_ _ **UST LIKE TAEMON HAS DONE TO HUIFAN ALREADY**_ — _**they could be unstoppable. They will have the two most powerful benders in the family under their thumb.**_

"Yoko would never fall for such tomfoolery. She knows why we must remain where we are in the government. She's too smart to even consider doing such a stupid thing."

 _ **I thought Huifan was too when I first read about her heroism in the Siege Of Republic City, but it is funny how easily a girl can be swayed with some pretty words! Just think of how easy it was for Hisoki to fool your brilliant mother and convince her to give up your life to him**_. Sunako replied.

There was an explosion, Izumi's hair flashed blue and she broke free of the bloodbending and struck Sunako. The waterbender fell to the ground with a loud thud. "You dare—"

 _ **I do because it is the only way to ensure you're still listening. I know you, My Lord. I know you and I know your family, probably better than you do at this point. They need you right now. I have a feeling if you don't abandon this futile search now, everything will come together for who we are fighting in your absence. This is your last chance to come back with me,**_ Sunako begged.

"My family can wait. My nation is more important than my family right now. If you really want to launch an investigation, do it, but do NOT disturb my family any more than necessary to keep them safe," Izumi growled.

 _ **Then I will, but let me say this: you don't deserve Yoko. You don't deserve any of them. I will protect your family, even if that means ending two of your wayward sons!**_ Sunako said turning away to leave.

"Sunako!"

"My Lord! Should I go after her?" Genkei asked.

"No," Izumi replied, turning away.

* * *

By the time Sunako returned to the palace, it was already dark. She was exhausted, but couldn't get herself to sleep, so she went to relieve Hiryur and Tadashi of their guard duties outside the girls' room. She quickly counted the occupied beds. _**Where is Huifan?**_

"Still out collecting water samples from the quarry lakes," Opal answered.

"Ursa, Yoko, how long does it take to collect water samples from the quarry lakes?" Jinora asked, turning to the Fire Sisters.

"Why are you looking at us?" Miyoko asked, leaning over the rim of her earthen bed.

"We're not scientists or alchemists," Ursa shrugged.

"If there is anyone you should ask, it is Sunako. She was initially recruited for her skill in alchemy. They thought she could protect the family from attempted assassinations by poisoning."

"And she has."

"Sunako?" Jinora asked.

 _ **Depends on how many samples you want and what type of samples you need,**_ Sunako replied stiffly.

Just then, someone ran in.

"Fa-ni?" Jiexue called.

"You guys would not BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED! So yeah, we collected samples, but the real reason he brought me, was to show me this!" Huifan opened her water skein as both Ursa and Miyoko used their bending to light the remainder of the torches and chandeliers in the room again for light.

Huifan bowed to them and then showed off several classic Northern Waterbending Forms. "AND I can do the water whip! Remember that one technique that we read about in Grandfather Aang's memoir that stumped Grandmother Katara for DAYS when grandfather managed it on his first try?" Her sisters and girl cousins all nodded. "Well-" she demonstrated with the perfect flick of her delicate, metal-clad wrist.

"WOAH!" Ikki and Jinora exclaimed, watching in awe.

 _She's done it. She's crossed over!_ Sunako thought to herself. _Taemon's accomplished the first step. He's taught her the motions, taught her the feeling of water, and given her the encouragement she needs to explore it. She took to it so- easily, but then again, she is a direct descendent of master Katara, so why would that be at all surprising?_

"He says if I went to a waterbending school now, I would be one year away from graduating with mastery!" Huifan exclaimed.

 _Mastery, huh? What a misused word nowadays!_ The only true bending masters of their respective elements that Sunako could tell were Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, Toph Beifong of Gaoling and arguably Fire Lord Izumi. There were rumors about her fire coming from a different source than the dragons that taught her, but her candidacy for mastery came from her innovative uses of lightning.

Sunako was abruptly pulled from her thoughts by a knock on the Princess's newly installed door. It was the Earth Queen. Sunako bowed to her before stepping aside to allow the youngest sister of Masaru to enter the grand bedroom.

"Isn't this quite the set up?" Suyin exclaimed in her usually cheerful and seemingly innocent tone.

"We're having a sleep over!" Ikki exclaimed.

"It is our second one!" Jinora added.

"It must be fun!" Suyin nodded.

"It is! We get to learn so much about our cousins!" Ikki responded excitedly.

"So what brings you here, Mom?" Opal asked, resting her chin on the rim of her bed with her pillow rolled up under her neck.

"Actually, I have a message for Xiaoyu," Suyin announced, striding over to the beds.

"Must be important to have to be personally delivered by the magnificent Earth Queen," Xiaoyu commented, leaning over the edge of her bed, curiously.

"Kohaku has invited you to a wind symphony tomorrow evening," Suyin informed the seventeen year old.

"A wind symphony?" Xiaoyu asked, sitting up.

"Can we go too?" Ikki begged.

"Apparently the tickets to this performance have been sold out for months. The secretary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs was going to go originally, but his wife fell ill with food poisoning. Since they could no longer go and didn't want the tickets to go to waste, Kohaku ended up with them and wanted to go with you," Suyin explained.

 _How dreadfully convenient_ _ **,**_ thought Sunako.

"Wow! That's-" Xiaoyu began to say before stopping.

"Do it, Sis! Enjoy yourself!" Huifan encouraged Xiaoyu with a solid punch to the airbender's arm.

"Can I, Aunt Su?" Xiaoyu asked, rubbing her forming bruise.

"If I didn't want you to go, I would have declined Kohaku's request and NOT relayed the message," Suyin replied with a shrug of contentment.

"Thank you!" Xiaoyu exclaimed, practically floating out of her bed to hug her aunt. "By the way, you're a lot more fun than Mom!"

Suyin laughed. So she was the cool aunt now? Thank the Spirits indeed.

"Yeah! I bet if our Ma even knew that Fire Boys have so much as spoken to us, she would have earthbent them to Omashu to never be seen again!" Jiexue seconded. All of the girls laughed.

"Well, you should all probably get to bed the best you can. Those of you not going out tomorrow have a dance to rehearse for the upcoming wedding!" Suyin reminded them.

There was a chorus of aws before Ursa killed all of the torches in the room and everyone said goodnight.

Sunako waited until the last girl fell into a deep sleep before unstopping a vial of spirit water and approached the beds slowly. Miyoko was on a top bunk, at the middle of the U-shaped configuration. She lifted herself onto a pillar of ice and bent the water carefully to Miyoko's head. It glowed blue as it healed the old damage done by dark lightning long ago.

 _ **I will bring you back.**_

After barely a few minutes, the palace intruder alarm sounded. Sunako bloodbent herself back across the room as the girls all slowly woke up to the sound.

The guards were yelling in the hallway. Sunako could not be a commander in these situations, since she couldn't speak or get anybody's attention without physically turning their heads to face her paper, so she watched the chaos unfold in the halls as she remained in the girls' room.

 _ **Stay. We will wait for Tadashi.**_

"Jinora! I'm scared!" Ikki cried, climbing into her sister's bunk.

"We'll be okay. We have family to protect us," Jinora replied. Sunako checked out the window for any bodies on the roof and any below, then waited.

After a few more minutes, the alarms ceased and Tadashi appeared.

 _ **What are Masaru Lee's orders?**_

"All family to the Golden Galley," Tadashi reported.

 _ **You heard him,**_ Sunako showed her paper to her charges.

They all huddled together with their parents, brothers, aunts and uncles, and waited. Kya and Bumi took over for Lin and Tenzin and comforted Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan, who were rather shaken by the night's turn of events.

"It was a false alarm. You may all return to your beds, if you please," a member of the Amber League announced to the gathered family members.

"Sunako, please come with me," the member of the Amber League asked as people began to file out. "We need you to identify a substance we found on the sixth floor corridor in the south wing."

They came to a crime scene. A single armored man lay face down with a needle in his hand and a couple of broken bottles of some liquid laying nearby in a small puddle.

Sunako looked at the needle in the downed man's hand. "So it was not a false alarm?"

"He is not an intruder. He is a full-fledged, ranked palace guard on duty, and he had an entire pack of these," the member of the Amber League said, kicking a small piece of glass towards the man. Sunako drew a sterilized flask from her pocket with a stream of water. Keeping flasks on hand was part of her contract when she first joined the league as an alchemist conducting research. One never knew when one would come across some chemical of unknown composition needed to be sampled and taken back to the lab for further analysis. Though being an alchemist was no longer her primary occupation, Sunako still carried a few flasks on her person at all times just in case something piqued her interest. She waterbent the small puddle of the unknown substance completely off the floor and into her flask and corked it.

"I'll be in my study. Tadashi, you and Hiryur know what to do when I am busy," Sunako reminded the earth bender.

"Yes, Sunako. Good luck with— that thing," the earth bender said with a nod to the flask in Sunako's hand.

Sunako took the flask and one of the fractured bottles, and a needle back to her lab to begin the analysis. At latest, she'll know what this mysterious liquid contains before morning.


	47. 2,17 Complications

**Chapter 17: Complications**

* * *

When morning came, all staff not essential to the security sweep and food preparation for the day remained in the Throne Room while all of the family was still in the Golden Galley. Only those with the highest security clearance were allowed to leave to conduct a full sweep of the palace and deliver food to everybody.

"Do you think Dad and Mama Lin and Aunt Zumi heard about the intruder last night?" Jinora asked, waking up in Kya's arms.

"I don't know sweetie. I think it is likely considering how fast information travels with the Amber League."

"Will Xiaoyu still be able to go on her date with Kohaku this evening?" Ikki asked, still snuggled up between Kya and Bumi amidst a dozen crimson blankets.

"We'll see," Bumi replied with uncertainty.

"Are you hungry?" a palace serving boy asked, bending down to them with a tray of soups.

"Thank you," Kya said to him with a nod.

Nearby, Jiexue and Ursa woke up in each other's arms, leaping apart with a yelp of surprise. Huifan was discovered to have earthbent a tent right out of the polished floor to give herself privacy, much to the chagrin of one of the palace maintenance men. She then restored it effortlessly, bending the stone back into the place and the gold patterning down perfectly again.

* * *

"How's it coming?" Masaru asked, entering Sunako's Lair in the palace for the first time. It was deep underground, with the entrance concealed behind a portrait of a blue dragon in Azula's Quarter of the Palace.

After Mai convinced Zuko to bring Azula into the palace so that their daughter wouldn't sneak out at night for some secret lessons and lose valuable sleep, the Quarter became her home away from the gossip of the soldiers and the maids. After Azula left the Palace on some spiritual quest, the quarter became home to some of the Royal Family's greatest secrets including Miyoko until Izumi's coronation, and Sunako's lab. The expansive, state-of-the-art lab was where the waterbender continued conducting research in herbology and alchemy when she wasn't on guard duty. Nobody except Izumi and Masaru were ever allowed in. Even then, Masaru could not enter without receiving prior approval from the Fire Lord herself.

 _ **It is… different…**_ Sunako replied on her parchment. _**Do you remember, sir when you were seven years old and took your first alchemy class at the Royal Fire Academy for Boys?**_

"Of course! I don't know how you could, though since you weren't even conceived then."

 _ **I read your caretakers' records on both you and the Fire Lord as soon as I received the proper security clearance. I must say it was intriguing.**_

"What does that class have to do with anything?" Masaru asked.

 _ **It has everything to do with everything. You remember loving alchemy. It was like magic, being able to mix liquids that all looked the same, yielding heat, cold, and colors. Sometimes the liquids would explode when combined and sometimes they did nothing. It was fascinating.**_

"Yes, I suppose it was."

 _ **Do you remember what you had me work on when I first joined your service eight years ago?**_

Masaru shrugged.

 _ **Suiminmizu. It was a colorless, odorless poison that contained bits of this tiny organism that entered the body and fed off of one's chi-pathways, disrupting the flow, and disabling their bending**_.

"Is that what this is?"

 _ **No. This is someone trying to replicate our work and doing a shitty job, much like you and Izumi's early attempts at making wildfyre. The ratios are botched and some of the ingredients similar, but wrong. This liquid just put the guard to sleep.**_

"But why did the guard have so many bottles of it?"

 _ **That guard's name is Keikuo. There is no one in this palace with a gentler soul. Not even the personalities of the airbender children can compare to his kindness, positivity, and selflessness. That aside, I know he is also not smart enough to concoct a sedative with trace bits of a similar organism to what we used in Suiminmizu. I have reason to believe he was framed, and ended getting stuck with this prototype drug himself in the scuffle and then sounded the alarms before he went down completely.**_

"But I thought all records of Suiminmizu were destroyed."

 _ **Your fiancée ordered them archived, and the research halted.**_

"Where were they archived?"

 _ **Somewhere we thought they were secure, but with a new Rogue Group discovered in the Amber League, I believe that location may be compromised. They should be moved.**_

"To where?"

 _ **Here,**_ Sunako suggested, bending her ink into a pin hole in the wall revealing a secret library. She took a torch off the wall and lit the torches inside. _**My collection contains some of the most detailed books on alchemy and herbology that have ever existed. I have the personal notes of Princess Ursa, wife of Ozai and secret herbalist, and of Master Katara of the Southern Watertribe.**_

"They will be moved immediately. Until then, is the rest of the palace safe?"

 _ **You'll have to check with Iyuan. I had nothing to do with the sweep last night.**_

"Right, thank you, Sunako," Masaru said with a stiff bow.

 _ **Thank you, Mr. Lee,**_ Sunako replied, bowing deeper.

* * *

A gong rang out next to the throne in the Golden Galley. "After a long investigation and complete sweep and examination of Palace security, it has been concluded that the intruder alarm had been falsely pulled by a guard who made the mistake of showing up to work inebriated. He has been promptly replaced and all are safe to return to their previously planned activities. On behalf of the Fire Lord Izumi, I, Masaru Lee of Earthen Fire Refineries and economic advisor to her lordship would like to thank you all for your cooperation during these past few hours." Masaru announced.

"YAY!" Ikki cheered before jumping into Xiaoyu's stomach, throwing her skinny arms around her big sister's waist. "That means you can still go out on your date!"

Xiaoyu laughed as everyone else around her stood. "So Ursa, Miyoko, what does one wear to a Fire Nation Wind Symphony? I am guessing it is not as casual as attending a cinema to see one of Varrick's movers."

"Definitely not casual," Huifan confirmed, remembering the days back when they lived in isolation when she poured over fashion magazines from every big city in all four nations of the world. "You want something with a long skirt, long sleeves, short collar and jewelry. Everything long. The people of the Fire Nation are tall, and proud and like seeing sharp lines, for they believe it represents strength, discipline, and power."

"And your hair needs to be up," Ursa added.

"And you need a waist. You're not as beefy as Huifan but you're also not as skinny as a Fire Nation highborn," Miyoko informed the airbender.

"Hey! I'm not beefy!" Huifan exclaimed.

It was true that she wasn't. Though she was twenty-four years old, she still had the slender body of a teen. Her chest had grown some in the past year but she was still small. The long and thin genes she must have inherited from her father's side of the family. Xiaoyu looked a bit more like a lady in terms of body shape, but her figure was nothing like Miyoko or Ursa's; their waists were so small Huifan was surprised they had organs. .

"They expect their women to be strong, they just don't want to see that strength," Miyoko shrugged.

"So more training is spent working on flexibility and stamina than muscle conditioning," Ursa stated.

"Which is why I stopped training when I was ten. Shit was torture."

"Forgive the intrusion, Ladies. I heard a rumor that a dear niece of her Lordship was attending a Wind Symphony this evening and was in need of something to wear. I am most certain that I can help her there," an elderly maid said as she entered Princess Ursa's room, speaking to everyone while staring at Xiaoyu analytically.

"Sorry, but who are you?" Jiexue asked as she stepped in front of her sister protectively, folding her arms over her chest.

"Iliana, Miss," the elderly woman replied, unfazed by the protective sister's suspicions. After decades of the Fire Lord's various tantrums, she had grown immune to the angst of young, emotional ladies. "My mother served the Fire Lady Mai as her primary chamber maid and stylist, and I served the Princess Izumi since she was seven years old, and now, the Fire Lord of the same name. I believe some of her old gowns may fit Xiaoyu well. We have kept everything her lordship has worn since she was ten. Everything she hasn't burned, that is." Iliana laughed. "We can alter them in an hour if they're not perfect. If we had a bit more notice, we could have crafted gowns from scratch, but with limited time and selection, we will have to make do with Her Majesty's inventory." Iliana said, reaching past Jiexue to take Xiaoyu's hand, then waving her sisters and cousins to follow her to the Fire Lord's room.

"Forgive me for asking, but is this even allowed?" Xiaoyu asked Iliana, slightly perturbed by the elderly woman's unnaturally firm grip on her wrist.

"Everything Her Lordship has is property of the Crown, not her own, which means the institution as a whole is free to do as they please with it," Iliana replied. "And frankly, I believe it is necessary. I do not trust Yoko or Ursa's judgement on the matter as neither of them have ever had to attend such a formal event. Now. If you all will have a seat, I shall make a few selections." Iliana walked over to a blank part of the wall and pushed in a small hidden tile, and the door to the closet opened.

"I thought the closet could only be opened by Mother's firebending!" Ursa gasped, sitting on an earthen bench that Huifan crafted for everybody.

"Heavens no! How else will we be able to dress the Fire Lord if we cannot access her clothing?" Iliana asked. She rummaged around in the vast closet for only a few seconds before emerging with her arms full of opulent gowns in all shades of crimson and decorated with obsidian, gold, and amber beading.

"Here we are! Most of these haven't been worn for at least a few decades."

"Iliana, don't you think some of these will have gone out of fashion?" Miyoko asked, lifting one dress curiously.

"Formal robes going out of fashion?" Iliana asked. "Never!" She had Xiaoyu stand and started stripping her right in front of all of her girl cousins. She drew a measuring tape and took the girl's bust, hip, and waist measurements.

"24 inches… Good. You're already pretty small," Iliana said quietly with a click of her tongue as she rang for another maid to take the measurements to a palace seamstress.

The first dress Xiaoyu tried on wrapped around her body a bit like air nomad robes but were a deeper red than she had ever seen and adorned with golden threading and golden jewelry. It had a high collar that forced Xiaoyu's chin up and her neck straight.

"I have never seen _that_ style in the Fire Nation!" Ursa scoffed disapprovingly.

"Even in magazines, it was never there!" Huifan added.

"That is because it is not a Fire Nation style. It is a southern Earth Kingdom one from some of the wealthier desert tribes. Dear Zumi wore it to Hou Ting's wedding. She almost lost it when she, Lin, and Kya had to flee Ba Sing Se after wrecking everything!" Iliana laughed.

"How did they wreck-" Miyoko began to ask curiously.

"What do you mean everything?" Jiexue asked.

Iliana held up one finger then rushed into the hall. "Tadashi, will you retrieve the Ba Sing Se City Newspaper from the 26th of May in 137AG from the archives?" Iliana asked the guard.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Tadashi replied laughing, remembering reading about the date when Masaru warned him about the Fire Lord's tendency to occasionally 'break face' when her social obligations became too much to bear.

 **THE BLUE SPIRIT TEAMS UP WITH THE KEMURIKAGE TO WREAK HAVOC ON HOU-TING'S WEDDING!**

"Huh! So Mom does know how to have fun," Miyoko commented, raising a brow as she read the headline before passing the newspaper on.

"Yes, she does, and gave us all quite the headache when she was growing up. Such a stubborn girl," Iliana said nostalgically, running her hand over some claw marks and charred parts of the bedpost. "Ready to try the next one?" Iliana asked Xiaoyu.

"Sure," Xiaoyu said, removing one of the golden necklaces, setting it carefully on the mirror-less vanity before trying in vain to free herself from the bizarre wrappings.

"Allow me!" Iliana said, undoing a clasp on the back and unwrapping the gown expertly.

* * *

The morning was quiet in the Fire Lord's tent as she ate breakfast with her best friend, her future sister-in-law, and the woman's husband and Grand Master of the Air Nomads.

"Was that the first time you had ever been bloodbent?" Lin asked Izumi, breaking the terse silence that hung heavy in the air.

"Of course not," Izumi replied. "It was just the first time not in training."

"Who bloodbent you in training?"

"Katara of the Southern Water Tribe," Izumi responded gazing down at her breakfast with hurt.

"Impossible! My mother hated bloodbending. She is the one who pushed that ban through long before any of us were born," Tenzin replied incredulously.

"Well your mother may have hated bloodbending, but she didn't hate my father. In fact, she was rather fond of him, and would do almost anything he asked even if it was doing something against her own morals."

"No," Tenzin replied shaking his head. "My MOTHER wouldn't do such a thing."

"How would you know? It is not like you ever paid any attention to what she and Kya were up to. All you ever cared about was your extinct Air Nation."

"That is not true!"

"It is. Funny how when you're the only one left of your kind, you become so singularly focused."

"Your father could never make my mother bloodbend anyone, especially you!"

"My father can be really convincing with the right motivation. Azula was under the impression a fire bender could build up an immunity to it and decided to use me as the first control that one of many of her twisted experiments to create a stronger Fire Nation," Izumi replied. "All she had to do was convince my father it would benefit me and he could make it happen." Izumi paused and took a sip of tea. "If it makes you feel any better, with Katara, I was never afraid. Your mother was kind. I knew the 'Sugar Queen' never meant to hurt me and that it was all Azula's doing. The only difference between then and now is that Sunako is different. She was angry yesterday and wanted to hurt me, thinks I genuinely don't care about what's happening at the Palace."

Tenzin quieted, but was very clearly still tense.

"What did Sunako mean about Taemon being able to get Huifan to cross over to water?" Lin asked after a moment of pensive silence. "What has your foster boy done to my eldest daughter?"

"Nothing, probably. They're good boys. Sunako is just a naturally wary person. She has been onto the twins and Taemon ever since her hands were torn off and her tongue ripped out by some bastards trying to kidnap my daughter," Izumi responded curtly. "They just happened to be in the same hall that night and-"

"And you CONTINUE to ignore her suspicions?" Lin asked.

"I am not ignoring her suspicions! I just know my sons would NEVER do such a thing to blood family!"

"The blood of Sozin, Azulon, Ozai, Azula and Ursa runs through their veins. The blood of those all perfectly content with committing and/or assisting familicide-" Lin stopped, realization striking her. Izumi's hair flared blue again and she raised a hand. Lin rose a slab of earth from the ground to block the Fire Lord's attempt to strike her. "You're so blinded by your love for your sons that you can't see, These kidnappings, the children they target, the obsession with crossing over-it MUST have been them the entire time. This could be all a ruse-"

"Or the real thing!" Izumi shot back. "You're just blinded by hatred and jealousy!"

"What could I possibly be jealous of?!" Lin scoffed. "I'm a cop, not an actress in a soap opera!"

"Jealous that I have the resources and authority to access all of the information I need to solve cases like these quickly-"

"And yet you are still blinded. You're overwhelmed, so much so that you cannot see when the culprit is living freely right in front of you!" Lin yelled, grabbing her coat and setting down her breakfast to head for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Izumi yelled, running after her.

"Back to the palace to continue this investigation a little closer to home. Tetsuya was one of the level 10s with the clearance to open the doors. He must know the traits the Rogue League is looking for in those that they kidnap. They have been targeting powerful benders OF MIXED HERITAGE! Huifan and Yoko are both powerful benders with mixed heritage. Yoko may have stopped her formal training when she was ten, but she is a brilliant girl that could be of great use to them Plus, she has already been campaigning against you, so any outbursts from her would simply be waved away and you would be none the wiser! It's the perfect ruse. You know, I couldn't understand at first why Yoko was so vehemently protesting the Crown, and now I am not at all surprised why. Sunako is right; you don't deserve Yoko."

"Lin Beifong, I command you to stop right there!" Izumi yelled.

Lin laughed, in disbelief that her friend would try to use her Crown of all things to stop her. "This is not Republic City. I am not a citizen of the Fire Nation bound to follow your orders. If you're going to stop me, you'll have to do it physically, Fire Lord Izumi," Lin said with a mocking bow. She pulled the bison whistle out of her dress and blew it, calling Oogi. "Tenz, do you want to come with me or stay? On second thought, Izumi could use your help keeping everything in check. She may claim to have everything under control but she can't even manage herself or her family. It is a wonder how she has maintained the trust of her nation for this long, a nation of three hundred and forty million strong."

Izumi's hair flashed blue as she clenched her fists.

"I'm sorry, Izumi," Tenzin said, joining Lin on the bison.

Izumi turned away as they took off of the ground and flew back. Just then Genkei ran out of his tent to Izumi. "My Lord. Masaru Lee called. He said you might need consoling or - something-" Genkei's voice faded as he saw Tenzin and Lin flying away on Oogi, and Izumi standing there alone, seething.

"I need NOTHING from you but updates. Have any developments been made in the last night?" Izumi demanded, moving her hand away from him angrily and quickly making her hair grey again with a deep breath.

"One, but it wasn't good. Another child has gone missing: a five-year-old, Shigeko Ueda," Genkei responded.

Izumi drew a breath and ran her fingers through her hair. "Where was she when it happened?"

"In her bed, asleep."

"And how are her parents?"

"Bereft. The other parents of the missing have already found the link and are talking to them about marching early." Genkei reported.

"I need to speak to them personally," Izumi decided.

"Shouldn't you finish your breakfast first?"

"No. There is no time. I need to find these children, assuage the parents of the missing and get back to the palace before Lin does something she will regret to my sons."

"I do not believe the Lady Beifong will hurt her own blood nephews."

"And why not? My grandfather was perfectly content with killing my father. My blood aunt perfectly content with abusing me. I was just too naive to see that was what she was really doing. I actually thought she cared then, that she was helping me, making me stronger, but I was just her ticket out of prison so she could continue to exercise her sadistic tendencies under the guise of educating the Princess!" Izumi replied, whirling on Genkei before marching off to one of the cars.

"My Lord-"

"I may have been stupid before, but I am still your Fire Lord, so don't even think about turning on me like Sunako. As a member of the Amber League Proper, your sole purpose is to serve," Izumi reminded Genkei before he could utter another word expressing his concern for her wellbeing.

* * *

Sunako flipped through the logbooks carefully scanning for any sort of biological trace. A hair or fingerprint. Maybe a bit of skin. There was none. It had been handled by a waterbender just like the one who wrote the book in the first place. Sunako closed the cover with a stream of water and let out a sigh. Finding out who broke into the alchemy archives in the headquarters of the Amber League would have to wait. Huifan and Miyoko were in immediate danger and now Xiaoyu was going on a date with that damned intern employed by the secretary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Sunako needed that confirmation that Taemon and Tetsu had malintent. She always knew what they were capable of doing.

" _Kill the handler, take the girl."_ his voice echoed through her head as she walked towards the offices of her targets.

And when she couldn't be killed?

" _Silence her."_

"SUNAKO, RELEASE HIM!" Taemon barked down the hall where Sunako stood with a water whip latched around his handler Daisuke's neck.

 _ **You cannot command me, Taemon,**_ Sunako wrote on a piece of parchment, having it fly towards his face. _**You hold no rank in the REAL Amber League. Daisuke is accused of conspiracy against her lordship. Fire Lord Izumi and I alone will determine if he should be indicted or not.**_

"You cannot do this!" Taemon yelled.

 _ **I can and I am with the Fire Lord's blessing. As a personal servant of Izumi, not even Tetsuya outranks me in the League.**_

Taemon flew towards her, bending fire out of his feet and fists to propel himself down the hall, closing the distance between them, intent on killing not Sunako but Daisuke.

Sunako threw the shaken handler aside with her water whip and stilled Taemon with her bloodbending. He resisted at first and then gave in to her control just like

 _ **-Another bloodbender!**_

"Even Daisuke's testimony will not be enough to indict me. I am untouchable!" Taemon whispered before breaking free of Sunako's bloodbending to return to his office.

Sunako took one glance at Dai and ran after Taemon. He lifted a hand and threw her against the opposite wall, bloodbending her eyes closed while he rummaged through his effects for any potential evidence.

"You cannot win, Sunako. I have played my part well, so well that neither Izumi nor Masaru will trust whatever you have say about me. Your words are useless and now the Fire Lord's time is at its end. If you excuse me, I must say goodbye to my dearly beloved," Taemon's voice said. He walked away, maintaining his grip on the waterbender until he rounded the corner of the long hall, leaving her alone with Daisuke.

"Sunako, I am sorry. I have been afraid. The power he possesses is unmatched by even Izumi!" Daisuke cried.

"How so?"

"Besides blood, and fire… he bends EVERYTHING!" Daisuke gasped. Sunako ran after Taemon.

"Do you have to go?" Huifan asked, holding his hands.

"There was a fire at the school. The children are terrified. I must be there for them. As head teacher, they look up to me. Many of them were orphaned and the school their first home. Surely you understand," Taemon replied resting his chin on her head.

"Children you orphaned yourself, I'm sure!" Sunako wrote, yanking Huifan back by the blood in her veins.

"Sunako! What is wrong with you?"

"He is a mass murderer, a child trafficker, and he's going to use you to get to Izumi!"

"If I wanted to get to Izumi with malicious intent, wouldn't I have done so already? I am one of her sons after all, am I not? She loves me," Taemon replied. "Don't listen to Her, Huifan. She is just one of those brainwashed by the old to think there is only one way of doing things. She's a traditionalist, no more. Remember what I told you about the water calling you and you will do great things. I will be back as soon as I rebuild my school. My mother will understand me missing her wedding."

"I'll miss you, Taemon," Huifan said, running back to him.

"Not as much as I will miss you," Taemon replied, sliding a hand to the back of Huifan's neck, touching his index finger to the base of her spine, kissing her while sending a small surge of electricity straight to the pleasure center in her brain.

 _That sick, twisted, BASTARD!_

"Goodbye, Taemon," Huifan said, waving as Taemon ran down the steps to a waiting car.

"Goodbye, Huifan!"

As soon as it pulled away, Huifan whipped around to face Sunako. "You stay away from all of us! Me, my siblings AND my cousins! I don't care what you think about Taemon. I don't care if you claim to have the Fire Lord's favor. I don't like you and if you think to come near my family again, I won't hesitate to end you!" Huifan yelled.

Just as they were about to return to the Palace, the sound of a sky bison froze them both.

"Mom! DAD!" Huifan ran to them, launching herself off the surface of the courtyard and into the saddle of the bison.

"Fa-ni! Why were you outside the palace?" Lin asked, embracing her daughter. A wave of relief overtook her body.

"Oh! Uh… just needed a little fresh air, that's all!" Huifan lied badly, remembering that her parents probably wouldn't take lightly to find out that she had begun dating in their absence.

"Getting fresh air is what the inner courtyards are for, dear, I thought we made you a better liar than that," Lin said, frowning.

Huifan laughed.

"So are you going to tell me about why you were out on the front steps?" Lin asked.

"No," Huifan laughed, guiltily.

"Then will you tell me about this crossing-over business and exactly what Taemon is telling you?" Lin asked as Oogi landed on the pavement.

"What did you tell them?" Huifan asked Miyoko.

"What she did or did not tell us is beside the point. What do you know about crossing over?" Lin asked.

"It is not a bad thing!" Huifan cried.

"Lin! Tenzin! Zumi just called and told me you left the case!" Masaru yelled running out.

"We're not going back. She's wasting her time there," Tenzin explained floating off of his bison's head.

"No, we both understand that. I only meant-"

"Why didn't you warn us?"

"Warn you about what?"

"All of your fiancee's issues. How she goes about her ' _investigations'_ with a fist full of lightning!" Lin specified. "Why does her hair turn blue? Why she is so convinced your children have nothing to do with this case, that they're innocent?"

"First of all, it is a finger, not a fist-" Masaru clarified.

"-Like that makes a difference-"

"And second of all, because they ARE innocent! What has Sunako been telling you?" Masaru asked.

"What does it matter what she has told me when your dearly beloved is off torturing innocent civilians to get them to spill their deepest secrets?"

"She does what she thinks is best for the nation and has been incredibly effective since ascending the throne. Our national crime rate is lower than your Republic City has EVER been, CHIEF Beifong!" Masaru yelled.

"And what of the morality of your methods?"

"To achieve greatness requires sacrifice!"

"And so you chose to sacrifice ethics! Lovely!," Lin said, brushing past him, taking Huifan with her. "Must be a Fire Nation thing…"

"Hey! You take that back! You're just as much fire as me!" Masaru yelled, grabbing her shoulder. She turned and knocked him to the ground.

"What other secrets is the Fire Nation harboring?" Lin demanded.

Masaru spat up a little blood. "You're going to have to be a little bit more specific about that question before I can answer."

Lin clenched a fist. "Where are Taemon and Tetsu?"

"Both busy," Miyoko answered for her father, emerging from the palace. Her long skirts swirled around her undoubtedly slender legs and her pale torso shined bright in the sunlight with the scar from Ursa's graze, more vivid than ever.

"Busy?" Lin asked, eyeing Miyoko suspiciously. Sunako had warned Izumi she and Tetsuya were now in cahoots. Sunako's eyes narrowed, but Miyoko paid her no attention.

"Tetsu is finishing up answering a call from some archivist in Yaoming while Taemon has returned to Ba Sing Se to repair his school. There was a fire," Miyoko elaborated. Lin reached for the girl's heart beat. It changed since Lin had felt it last. It had become unnaturally steady. It had been trained.

"Lin, leave Yoko alone! I'll answer your questions," Masaru demanded, standing up with mild difficulty.

"Under ordinary circumstances, that would satisfy me, but your youngest is one of the suspects in the case regarding the Rogue League," Lin replied.

"I'll gladly answer any question you have to ask me, Aunt Lin," Miyoko replied innocently.

"Sunako, will you come with me?" Lin requested.

 _ **I'd be glad to, Milady,**_ Sunako responded in written form on her piece of parchment that followed her everywhere.

* * *

The Uedas' house was only moderately remote. It was about a mile off the nearest road and up the face of a volcano. Izumi, Genkei, and a few others made the climb from the car in less than a half hour. Izumi reached the property first.

"My Lord, please-"

"What?!" Izumi snapped.

"Choose your words carefully. They just lost a daughter. They may not be in a proper state to speak with you rationally."

"I am aware. But we need to speak regardless, even if it is only so they will remain quiet about what has transpired," Izumi replied, jumping over the fallen tree, walking towards the small house quickly.

Genkei took a deep breath. He was not even a bender, and yet, Masaru had recommended him out of his class of sixty to be Izumi's primary handler when she became Fire Lord. _Mr. Lee, you told me to stop her when she wanted to do something stupid, but I am afraid that I can't, knowing what I know about her own abilities. I am powerless against our Fire Lord. Help me._

Izumi pushed aside the sliding screen that covered the entrance to the dwelling.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" Izumi called. From the outside, the house on stilts appeared to only have one room, so the search for its inhabitants would be quick and easy. Izumi passed a small closet sized partitioned space that held several pots and pans and a faucet, likely connected to a silo of sorts that collected rain for the washing.

"I have come to offer my condolences for the recent disappearance of your daughter," Izumi said, rounding the last partition to enter the main space.

"You're too late, Fire Lord Izumi," a voice said. Izumi looked up and saw two men standing behind the parents of Shigeko Ueda. The parents were kneeling, trembling, with their hands curled into fists on their knees. The father wore Fire Nation reds while the mother wore Earth Kingdom greens. The two men wore all black with the flaps of their gis folded left over right, as one would dress a corpse.

"Call your men and ensure their death. Listen, and they might get another chance at life," the second man in black said.

Izumi's left hand curled into a fist.

"You are not the only special bender in the world anymore," one of the men said. Izumi pointed two fingers at the floor and sent lightning through every strand of cellulose in the straw that covered the wood with the intention of electrocuting the two black-clad men.

They both lifted two fingers at her and redirected the dark lightning back. Izumi broke the completed circuit in her surprise and took the brunt of the pain she intended for the two men, falling to her knees, wheezing.

"Did you really think that Hisoki told no one about his ability to paralyze you after he ditched you that unfortunate afternoon?" one of the men of the Rogue League asked. "Did you really think he developed that skill in the first place, alone? Did you really think Azula's exploits of the prison population would remain unknown to the rest of the world?"

"You've been a fool, Fire Lord Izumi. Your physical prowess is unquestionable, but your mind is old. You're too traditional, too naive. If you were as enlightened as you think yourself to be, you would have seen this coming. You put too much trust in your bending. Your time is coming to an end."

"If you want me dead, then why wait?"

"Because we must discredit you first. You cannot die on some tiny island where nobody can see what you really are, a detriment to your own country. No, you will have to wait for your end. But the same can't be said for these lovely people," the men in black said each stepping back onto the deck of the house. They each lifted two fingers and electrocuted the Uedas from behind, killing them ruthlessly with regular lightning. Izumi raised her hand and shot her own lightning past the two fried bodies at their murderers, but both men fell off the back of the deck, missing her strike. She leaped across the room and looked down to see only a cloud of dust as if they bent the earth to consume themselves.

"Earthbenders! Search the mountain side for two men of medium build! Both Fire Nation with Amber Eyes!" Izumi ordered from the front door. "Genkei, come here please!" Izumi added, her voice starting to shake as she slipped back inside, just out of sight of all of her entourage except Genkei.

"My Lord!" Genkei rushed up the stairs to the house on stilts to find his ruler sitting against the wall with her knees tight against her body, crying.

"I couldn't save them. The Rogue League- they were here. They took Shigeko Ueda. They killed her parents, and they've beaten me. They claim my end is near and that I must wait for death to come after they've discredited me," Izumi told him.

"If it is truly a Rogue Faction of our own League that we are dealing with, then we cannot fight them with the imperial guard, my Lord. Our time is wasted here," Genkei said with a hand on the Fire Lord's shoulder.

"You're right, as were Lin and Tenzin. Maybe the threats are a little… closer to home," Izumi sobbed, wiping her eyes with her crimson sleeves.

"I agree, but before we pack up here, we must be careful about how we go. The parents of the missing are still planning to march soon, and you abandoning them in this time of need could be irrecoverably detrimental to your standing. We must wait. Patience is key. Remember your neutral jing," Genkei said kneeling on one knee in front of Izumi, waiting for her to steady her own breathing and look up again.

"I'm sorry, for failing you, and my country."

"You haven't failed, Fire Lord Izumi. This isn't the end. Just another part of ruling. It is no different than any other skirmish you've faced in the last eight years. You will get through it," Genkei said, standing and offering a hand to his Fire Lord. Izumi wiped away the last of her tears and let Genkei help her stand. He let go of her hand quickly as no guard was to ever touch the Fire Lord except in the event of emergency, and the imperial guards could not know just how close Izumi was to the Amber League and not them. Publicly it would not go over well.

* * *

"Mom, you're overreacting," Huifan said to Lin as they made their way to the Earthen Hall for dinner after a long five hour interrogation where Lin drilled her own niece.

"I have reason to think Miyoko is involved in an imminent coup of the Fire Nation's government, don't tell me I'm overreacting!"

"And how is that you're problem? You're a citizen of the EK and of the United Republic, not the Fire Nation, so step out of it!"

"How can I just 'step out of it' when my blood brother is about to legally bind us to this spirit-foresaken, secret-laden, historically-genocidal family?" Lin asked.

"Mom!" Huifan groaned, taking her mother's hand as they reached the hall.

Lin froze, scanning every heartbeat in the room. "Where is Xiaoyu?" She asked turning to Huifan.

"She went on a date with Kohakuuuuuu!" Ikki blurted out.

Nearly the entire hall gasped as Jiexue grabbed her little sister, and covered her mouth but it was too late.

For a moment, Lin was frozen. Huifan stepped away. On numerous occasions, various aunts and uncles and even Father had commented about how Toph and Satoru were lucky the world was that Lin wasn't a firebender, for she too was extremely dangerous when enraged.

"You let her go on a date?" Lin asked Huifan.

"Not me, Uncle Saru and Aunt Su," Huifan replied.

"Way to deflect blame, Fa-ni!" Suyin scoffed kicking a leg over the bench where she sat, turning to face Lin.

"Don't pretend you're innocent, you started dating too, with their permission," Miyoko added, taking a sip of diluted cactus juice calmly.

"They're MY DAUGHTERS!" Lin yelled, bending the floor beneath Huifan and the table with her daughters and nieces away to get to her siblings.

"They're adults, it is about time you started treating them that way!" Suyin replied, bending the table with her sons and nephews away with the table where Kya, Bumi, Baatar, and Tenzin sat already eating.

"Says the woman who tied her twins' shoe laces until they were twenty!" Lin replied, bending a slab of earth at Suyin. Suyin smashed it on her wrist effortlessly.

"Lin, stop this!" Masaru yelled, sending a bolt of painless, paralyzing lightning towards Lin, making her fall to the ground with a grunt, her arms and legs immobilized, but her body still able to hold her upright on her knees, surprising everybody.

"Mom?" Xiaoyu asked as she materialized, her red gown and jewel-encrusted hair making her seem every bit a Fire Nation noble and nothing like the humble air nomad she was supposed to be.

"What the hell are you wearing?"

"A dress, obviously," Xiaoyu replied, rolling her eyes.

"You are an airbender, not some Fire Nation whore, Xiaoyu!" Lin yelled in her rage. The Fire Nation girls glowered at her remark.

"Why can't I be both?" Xiaoyu asked, her amber eyes filling with tears. "Fire runs through my blood just as it runs through yours! There is no shame in a change of costume. You endorsed the disguise back when we lived on Air Temple Island however briefly. What changed?"

"You started dating."

"Mother, I am seventeen! I can do what I want! You know what, Kohaku is right about you! You are old, jaded, and uncreative-I don't need you anymore. I will meet him again, and you cannot stop me!"

"Xiaoyu-"

"Try and we elope, Mother! I am through being told what I can and cannot be!" Xiaoyu yelled at her mother. "The world is changing as we speak." She added before exiting the hall. Though Lin could not use her limbs to control her bending, that did not stop her subconscious from bending anyways in its rage. The ground splintered beneath their feet and spread throughout the room like a sheet of glass shattering.

"Kuto! Jin! Jian! Wing! Wei! The ceiling will collapse!" Huifan yelled, sliding into a bending stance as the walls began to crack almost as dramatically as the floor.

Tenzin rushed over to his wife and wrapped his arms around her as she cried, his touch ceasing the destruction of the room as their earthbending children and nephews struggled to keep the ceiling up for that amount of time against Lin's powerful bending.

"Come on, children, off to bed," Kya said, herding Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan from the Earthen Hall.

"But Aunt Kya, we haven't even finished eating," Meelo whined.

"I'm sure we can get something edible delivered. It is time to go to bed _now_ ," Kya replied sternly, picking up Rohan and taking Meelo's hand.

* * *

 _Old, jaded, and uncreative… old, jaded, and uncreative… old, jaded, and uncreative… Wasn't that every mother's job to be to keep their children from getting themselves killed before they were ready to move on from the mortal world?_ Sunako thought to herself as she bent the water around Miyoko's head while the girl slept. _And what was that interrogation, How could neither Lin nor Huifan, the two greatest truth-seers in the world, not be able to detect any waver in Miyoko's heartbeat? Even I could feel it in her blood. The volume of the fluid being moved through her body varied so dramatically in speed throughout her questioning. They must have sensed the vibrations… unless… she's crossed over into earth and has been taught how to cancel those vibrations with seismic sense!_

Sunako almost dropped the water on Miyoko's bed sheets, but caught it before it hit and replaced it in her water skein.

Fortunately, the girl didn't wake, only moaned softly and rolled over in her sleep. Sunako checked her pulse. Still sleeping. The waterbender let out a sigh of relief and retreated to her study to reflect on the day's proceedings.

* * *

 **A/N**

 _Hi Everyone! I hope you had a nice holiday season. I recently got a tablet and have begun to enjoy drawing fan art for this story (I MADE THE NEW COVER ART ALL BY MYSELF (the full image with all of Izumi's Fire is on tumblr and Instagram, dm me if you want those handles):D!) Alas, there are only so many hours in a day and with the new quarter in school beginning tomorrow, I will have less time to recreate. This quarter at Uni will be my hardest yet with Math, CS, Engineering, and Physics, and something else that I can't remember at the moment. That being said, chapter updates may become really slow unless someone lights a fire beneath my feet (no pun intended;))._

 _Have a great week!_

 _~j_


	48. 2,18 Darkness Rising

**Chapter 18: Darkness Rising**

* * *

"Do you really think it wise to stalk our own daughter?" Tenzin asked Lin that night.

"The Rogue League has already targeted Huifan and Miyoko. You can see the change in their eyes. And now I fear they now also have Xiaoyu on their side. You heard her responses. She used to be perfectly content with being an airbender, being an Air Nomad. She never asked for anything superficial. She was quiet, like Jinkun—she never cried, never yelled or complained. She was a good kid. Whatever Kohaku told her tonight, it changed her, unbelievably quickly. Isn't that at least a little unsettling to you?"

"It is, but I still think there could be some truth to what Suyin and Xiaoyu are saying. They ARE legal adults in all four nations. Maybe we should give them a little more freedom to make what they will of the world. This idealism they have will go away eventually. It's probably just temporary."

"I don't know, Tenz. Words like what they're preaching are what sends millions of young men to their deaths every couple of centuries. I don't like it one bit."

"This is true, but this time it is women speaking. Aren't you the one who claims women are smarter than to get themselves caught up in the frivolous battles of men?"

"Yes, but at the same time, when we are in love we can act just as foolishly as our inferiors. Remember that," Lin said, wrapping her arms around Tenzin's neck, drawing him in for a kiss.

* * *

Lin dyed her hair dark the next morning. She procured makeup to cover up her identifying facial scars and then dressed in a typical, middle-class Fire Nation disguise. Tenzin wore a wig and a merchant-class suit and they disappeared from the castle through the servant's wing of the palace, Lin covering their exit with her earthbending.

"What's wrong now?" Tenzin asked with a soothing hand on his wife's shoulder, noting her deepening scowl as they walked down the crowded street.

"I simply want to gag. The way her heart flutters every time he speaks is _absolutely_ disgusting," Lin grimaced. "You're so lucky you can't feel every vibration every person creates in the earth just by existing."

Tenzin took a deep breath and continued following, keeping an eye out for Lin's movements. He was completely oblivious when it came to her stalking techniques; that had always been Lin's forte. He let his wife be in charge of the tracking while he took care of their cover, pretending to be interested in the vendors' various wares for sale on the street.

"They're leaving the market," Lin said suddenly.

"What?" Tenzin asked. His wife took his wrist and lead him down an alleyway.

"Can you get us onto the roof quietly?" Lin asked.

Tenzin picked her up bridal style and jumped, silently, with a swirl of air around them. They both ran lightly across the rooftops, Lin taking extra care to cancel out her vibrations.

"This way! Stay low!" Lin called. They came to the edge of the neighborhood.

"Where are they going?" Tenzin asked as they moved silently through dense foliage.

"I don't know," Lin replied. She put out a hand, stopping Tenzin. What were Xiaoyu and Kohaku looking at, exactly?

"It is a boiling lake," Kohaku informed Xiaoyu. "Bet you don't have these in Republic City."

"No, we certainly don't," Xiaoyu replied, her eyes never leaving the water in front of her. "Are boiling lakes common in the Fire Nation?"

"With so many active volcanoes, and places where the crust of the earth is so thin, significantly," Kohaku responded.

"I am surprised. I thought the only boiling lake was the one where that infamous prison was located. What was it called, the Boiling Rock?"

Kohaku laughed. "As much as the Fire Nation likes to boast of its nearly endless amount of resources, its multitude of its boiling lakes are not included among those commodities that are worth boasting about."

"Naturally." Xiaoyu replied.

"Would you like to touch the water?" Kohaku asked after a few moments.

The airbender shrunk back. "I can't! It will burn me won't it?"

"I don't think it will."

"And what makes you say that?"

"You're different, Xiaoyu."

"You have an affinity for heat. You don't realize it, but I can see. You spice your food much more than most air benders, and you didn't feel anything in the library that day with your little sister-"

"Wait- you were actually- bending? Jinora wasn't imagining anything?"

"No."

"How is that even possible?"

"Heat in its rawest form is just energy, correct?"

"Yes," Xiaoyu said, becoming apprehensive.

"And what is energy?"

"I don't know… heat?"

"A naturally reflexive response for someone who has not been educated on the microhappenings of the world," Kohaku noted. "Heat is released upon impact of most particles. Increase the rate of collision of those particles, and you increase the amount of energy released, and elevate the heat produced in the surrounding area. Slow the particles of air, reduce the number of collisions around you and you reduce the heat. You were cooling yourself because you knew what was happening. Your body automatically returned your surroundings to the former temperature to maintain a comfortable homeostasis. Jinora is not so advanced. Her body didn't know what was happening and did not make the appropriate subconscious reaction. She does not deserve the tattoos she bears regardless of her ability to do spiritual projection." Kohaku stated, crossing his arms in contempt.

Tenzin's eyes narrowed in offense.

"Don't-" Lin hissed, holding him back.

"I assure you, you won't burn if you touched the water. You will subconsciously bend air into the water around you, interfering with the collision of the water molecules that are being forced into each other by the boiling magma below. You will be safe," Kohaku whispered in her ear as he held her arms from behind and dipped both of her hands into the boiling lake.

"Woah!" She gasped. He let go and knelt beside her.

"We're not really so different, fire and air," Kohaku commented.

"If that is so, why did that one fire lord ever start that war?"

"Because he was ignorant. He grew blindly accepting what his elders told him. He truly believed the ways of the Fire Nation were superior. He was a fool for not seeing that we are in fact, all the same. He didn't question society's standard conventions. He didn't open his eyes to other possibilities," Kohaku said leaning closer. "Have you ever thought about bending lightning?" Kohaku asked.

"I'm not a firebender," Xiaoyu replied.

"But isn't fire just energy? And isn't energy-"

"Released when things collide-"

"Try it, Xiaoyi. Bend the air into itself!" Kohaku said, putting his hands together in the shape of a cup and bent a flame.

Xiaoyu put her hands together in the same position but nothing happened.

"It's no use!" She sighed with frustration.

"No! You're doing it!" Look!" Kohaku lowered a stick in between her hands. Xiaoyu bombarded it with air and the tip began to smoke, and then caught flame. He dropped the stick to avoid getting burned.

Xiaoyu stepped back, stunned. "I did it!"

"Yes! You've crossed over!"

"How is that even possible! I thought only the Avatar could bend more than one element!"

"You only thought that because it is something your parents have told you," Kohaku sneered."You must break free, Xiaoyi if you are ever to reach your full potential. There is so much that you can discover and accomplish if you stopped accepting what you have been told and started questioning everything."Xiaoyu smiled. "Come now," he said, looking at the sun. "It is nearly noon, you must be getting hungry,"

"And who are you to presume such a thing?" She asked with a smirk.

He smiled at her. "Questioning everything, I see?"

She giggled gleefully as they returned to the village marketplace.

"I've had enough!" Lin decided as they saw Xiaoyu and Kohaku both ordering from a meat cart.

"XIAOYU HAN YESHE!" Lin yelled parting the crowd with her earthbending. Xiaoyu turned, mortified with a forbidden pork kebab in her hand. "How dare you defy tradition?"

"What do we gain from following? Total annihilation? The world is changing, and so should we!" Xiaoyu yelled back.

"Do you know this woman?" Kohaku asked, stepping in front of Xiaoyu.

 _He really doesn't recognize me wearing Fire Nation clothes with makeup covering my scars? Huh! Interesting. I could use that to my advantage._

"Unfortunately, yes. She is my mother," Xiaoyu replied brusquely. .

"Mother or not, she is not needed!" Kohaku decided, generating lightning. Lin balled her fist and readied a concealed cable. "Foolish metalbenders!" he yelled recognizing the motion and anticipating the attack. He slid to the side and grabbed hold of her cable. "I would think you would have learned by now that metal only CONDUCTS lightning!"

Tenzin and Xiaoyu all saw it the instant before it happened. Lightning surged through Lin. She screamed as the cable fell limp followed by her body.

"LIN!" Tenzin dropped to his knees in horror as his wife's body convulsed from the electrocution. Kohaku laughed and recharged to attack the fallen former police chief again.

"Stop it! STOP IT, YOU'RE INSANE!" Xiaoyu screamed, pulling his arm down.

"Why should I? You said so yourself the the world is changing and so should we!" Kohaku declared, charging up more lightning to shoot at Lin and Tenzin. "Ending her and all others who resist this change will only get us one step closer to freeing every man, woman, and child from the oppressive forces that seek to stifle our progress. Why not start with freeing you?"

"You don't need to do this!" Xiaoyu cried, jumping in between Kohaku and her parents with tears streaming down her face.

"If you could bend fire, you could stop me!" he said darkly. "I've made my decision and I know my place in society!"

"NO!" Xiaoyu stood her ground and took the lightning, ready to die for her parents, but the electricity didn't hurt. It didn't burn. Somehow her subconscious mind knew how to deal with the energy. It moved the billions of particles of air that came rushing towards her at incomprehensible speeds, colliding and releasing the energy that condensed into lightning. Xiaoyu opened her eyes and saw blue and white lines dancing across her vision silently. She redirected the lightning down her arms through her belly and to her other hand, careful to avoid her heart and complete destruction. She looked around at the people in the marketplace staring at her, open-mouthed and frightened. Then she saw Kohaku standing a few feet away, grinning madly. She pointed two fingers of her left hand to the sky and two fingers of her right hand to the ground and expelled the lightning from her body in a magnificent display of light. She dropped by her mother's side and took her hand and reached inside, searching for the excess energy, and shot that as well, towards the sky.

Lin's body stopped convulsing, and her breathing settled into a more rhythmic pattern again. "Xiaoyu," she whimpered before falling completely still.

"I'm so sorry!" Xiaoyu cried. "I should have listened to you-I didn't realize he would-"

"That was incredible!" Kohaku yelled running over. "A master airbender lightningbending in one shot! It usually takes YEARS of training and conditioning to get any bender to even be willing to attempt to cross-over into another element! They're right! You are a powerful one! Now all we need to do is separate you and get you to the academy!"

"You're insane if you think I'll ever go anywhere with you! I hate you and NEVER want to see your face again!" Xiaoyu yelled with tears streaming down her eyes as she looked down at her mother's damaged form.

"You'll change your mind," Kohaku replied with a sly grin.

"Don't you think you've done enough damage to our family?" Xiaoyu sobbed, over her mother's completely stilled body..

"How do you know this damage was not my intention to open your eyes, Xiaoyu? We will meet again, in time." With a wicked grin and an explosion created by a concealed combustionbender, Kohaku vanished from the marketplace.

"She is breathing, and her heart is still beating, but she does not respond now to any stimuli. It's like—she's paralyzed…" a passerby in Water Tribe clothing said to Tenzin, her face wrought with worry. Tenzin pulled out his bison whistle and through his sobs, called Oogi.

"Mom, I'm sorry!" Xiaoyu cried.

* * *

"Master Tenzin!" Hiryur called, running out to receive the bison. "What happened?"

"Kohaku shot Lin full of lightning- but there weren't any visible burns! I have never seen anything like it!"

"And you sure he used lightning?" Hiryur asked.

Tenzin nodded.

"Summon the Master Lee, and his son, Tetsuya! Quickly!" Hiryur ordered some nearby sentries.

"Can they fix her?" Xiaoyu asked, desperately.

"Hopefully, sweet air child," Hiryur replied, leading Xiaoyu and Tenzin carrying Lin to the infirmary as Oogi flew on his own back to the Royal Stables.

* * *

"You're sure it was lightning?" Masaru asked, placing a hand over Lin's head and heart as she lay unmoving after a full check of vitals by all of the Palace Healers, Kya, and Sunako.

"I swear it," Tenzin said. "The energy, the heat-it couldn't have been anything else."

Xiaoyu stood by the wall in Huifan's arms, crying. If it hadn't been for her, their mother wouldn't be so close to death...

"Father, Dai said it was urgent- Is Aunt Lin-" Tetsuya commented, entering with his handler in tow.

"The healers said she is in critical condition. Where have you been?"

"I was out on a call. I came as quickly as I could from the southern islands. I am sorry, Father. I cannot fly as quickly as Mother." Tetsuya answered completely, bowing his head in apology.

"Very well. You're here now," Masaru sighed, stepping aside. "I'll let you diagnose her. Dark lightning always was one of your specialties."

"As was it yours," Tetsuya replied, taking his father's place with one hand on Lin's head and one on her heart.

"But I never learned to heal with my lightning," Masaru replied.

"It never is too late to learn, Father," Tetsuya replied, bending electrical impulses throughout Lin's body.

Masaru placed a hand on his sister's arm and leg and felt his son working the energy through his sister's body.

"What did Kohaku do to her?" Masaru asked. He had never seen a case like this before-what was this young man training, exactly?

"He tried to kill her, but fortunately could not administer the full dose of lightning," Tetsuya replied, his expression difficult to read, but somewhere between disappointment and grief. "The fabric lining the former police chief wears between her armor and skin saved her from complete system failure." Tetsuya added as he moved one hand down from her head to her chest and the other hand that was on her chest down her leg.

"Spirits!" Masaru cursed.

"Please tell me you can save her!" Tenzin begged his future nephew.

"I can try, but I am no master," Tetsuya replied, carefully removing Lin's clothing. He placed both hands on her bare torso and sent a single shock through her body to try to jump-start it again. Limbs thrashed momentarily before falling still again. Tetsuya sighed in defeat and checked her pulse then placed both hands on either sides of the head and mapped the brain.

"She's receptive. That is a good sign," Tetsuya explained.

"What does that mean?" Xiaoyu asked.

"She can hear and feel," Kya answered.

"But she has been immobilized. I am afraid a majority of her motor neurons have been fried at the synapses, inhibiting the release of ions into the space between," Tetsuya announced.

"What do you mean fried? Does this mean she'll never walk again?" Tenzin asked. Xiaoyu shrieked a little, Huifan's grip on her tightening in response.

"I don't know. I have never come across anyone who has been attacked like this," Tetsuya replied. "I'm sorry."

* * *

"I came as fast as I could fly. Where is she?" Izumi asked, barging in with Miyoko close behind.

Tetsuya stood immediately and bowed. "Motor neuron disintegration. Synapses closed permanently-" Tetsu reported like a member of the Amber League would to his superior.

Xiaoyu whimpered a little at the sound of "permanent."

"We'll see what can be done," Izumi replied sternly, passing her son without even a glance as she turned her attention to her future sister-in-law laying comatose on the bed.

The Fire Lord placed a lanky hand on Lin's head and the other on her heart and closed her eyes, mapping the woman's entire system with one bolt of energy.

"Everyone leave," She ordered.

"What?" Tenzin whimpered looking up from Lin's left hand which he held to his hand.

"If you want her to wake again, you HAVE TO LEAVE," Izumi replied.

Xiaoyu looked back nervously and reluctantly exited the room.

"Saru, Help me," Izumi whispered, holding him back.

Once the room was cleared, Izumi and Masaru both put a hand on one of Lin's shoulders and her upper leg. "Saru, come with me," Izumi said taking a deep breath. Her hair turned blue and his blazed read as they both let out their dragons.

"We'll be back. Protect our bodies, and Lin's, please," Izumi said to her hurt and fear and Masaru's anger which were the biggest of the dozen flaming beasts that danced around the infirmary.

They turned back towards each other, not letting go of Lin and crossed into the spirit world, to Wan Shi Tong's Library.

"Is this your first time?" Izumi asked, leading the way across some high rock formations that loomed over a foggy grove.

"Obviously," he replied nervously. "Why do I need to come in the first place?"

"Because Lin's synapses have been fried by lightning and such cells are far too temperamental to be restored by conventional methods."

"And you think someone here will know how to help us?"

"Yes. Dark lightning is not as new as previously believed. You remember that night in the bathroom when I got you to release your inner dragons?"

"Yes and I remember my anger attacking your fears, why?"

"Well we've apparently always had that innate ability. We just haven't needed it at least two myrietes."

"Why has it chosen now to resurface? To fuck up our already fucked up family?" Masaru asked following Izumi Wan Shi Tong's Library which appeared hanging upside down out of a purple sky, overgrown with roots of some tree likely spanning the spirit and material world.

"I don't know, so don't ask me," Izumi replied, holding out her hand to her fiance.

"How do we get up there without our bending to fly?"

"Just close your eyes," Izumi ordered, projecting both of their spirits into the main atrium of the library.

"You've brought a friend," the serpentine owl droned, unamused as he confronted Izumi.

"He is Masaru Lee, son of Toph Beifong and Satoru-"

"You think he who knows ten thousand things needs to be reminded of this mortal's lineage? How could I forget? His mother dented the main spire of my great library with her unbelievably strong bending."

"I'm sorry, about that," Masaru mumbled, rustling his hair.

"Let me guess, you wish to peruse my collection?"

"I wish to find out a way to save my sister who's been shot full of some malevolent lightning that neither my lady nor I know how to remedy," Masaru replied.

"As I recall, your lady is called a Lord now."

"Yes, forgive me," Masaru apologized, his eye twitching with impatience.

"How sweet! He is equally as annoyingly miserable and apologetic as you were when you first started coming," Wan Shi Tong commented to Izumi.

"Just think of something to share with him. I'll be in the Fire Section that hasn't been burned by that idiot Zhao that now wanders the expansive fog of lost souls," Izumi said impatiently, rushing up some stairs and down a corridor with her favorite little knowledge seeker bounding after her.

Masaru pulled out a small book from his pocket. "Please accept this offering,"

"What is it?"

"Every instance that dark lightning has been used since Hisoki Ibonara struck Izumi on their wedding night. I've had the Amber League report back every bender capable of executing the technique and their uses of it in my attempt to learn, but still have been unable to heal anybody."

"Your thirst for knowledge is disturbing, Masaru Lee," Wan Shi Tong replied, taking the book with one fell swoop of his wing.

"How is it any different than Zumi's?" Masaru asked challengingly.

"It isn't." the great spirit replied.

"Go, enjoy the library, but if you pervert any of the knowledge you find-"

"I won't. Thank you, great spirit!" Masaru said bowing rushing to find his fiancee in the expansive place.

He found Izumi nestled in a pile of books with a pair of fox-like spirits helping her.

"Read this one, and this and this one," Izumi said, handing Masaru three specific texts already bookmarked while not taking her eyes off of a fourth as the knowledge seekers collected more tomes for her to skim quickly for relevant information. "We have no time to lose."

* * *

Tetsuya stood with his back against the door frame, his eyes down cast and that insufferable lock of hair hanging just to the left of his long pointed nose. Miyoko waited a few feet away with a scowl marring her otherwise flawless heart shaped face. Tadashi, Hiryur and Sunako stood in a triangle in the hall. Tadashi and Hiryur each staring down a corridor and Sunako staring at the door. Kya and Huifan stood with each with a hand on one of Xiaoyu's shoulders while Xiaoyu ate herself alive with self-blame in Tenzin's arms.

"I should have never trusted him!" the airbender sobbed as her father stroked her head. "If I hadn't been so naive and stupid, mother would still be with us."

"She's not dead so why are you crying?" Tetsuya asked, annoyed.

"She could be dying! You saw her just laying there! Unresponsive!"

"I diagnosed her! She's unresponsive, yes, but still receptive! She's in there! We just need to get her out!" Tetsuya yelled back.

 _ **Tetsu, leave her alone**_! Sunako warned, shoving her parchment in his face. He slapped it aside and reached for the door handle. "I'm going to see if Mother and Father need help." He announced impatiently. When he touched the door handle, he winced from the heat. What was happening? He opened it quickly and slipped inside, closing the door behind. When he looked up he saw his parents each in mirrored positions with one arm on his elder earthbending aunt's shoulder and the other on her upper leg. Both with their heads hung and their eyes closed and flames in place of their hair.

Tetsuya looked at the source of the glow that filled the room. Nine small dragons seemingly made entirely of flames, varying in size between the length of a finger and an arm lounged on the bed, not burning anything and barely casting a glow.

Still the infirmary felt warmer than it normally would. Tetsuya turned and saw three dragons, two blue and one red, composed of raw energy, glaring at them.

"I'm here to help," he said to the dragons. They snarled.

One reached out a whisker and touched Tetsuya's forehead, burning into his mind a warning.

 _The masters may love you, but we see truth._

Tetsuya shoved the whisker away with a flaming whip. He heard a blaze and whipped around to see his mother's hair lighten from a dull blue to a bright hot blue flame. His father's glowed from red to orange and the dragons approached him. He drew two fire whips of a green flame in case they decided to attack. He was close to his parents. Close enough to take action.

He made his decision and jumped, twisting the green flaming whips around him, slicing through everything in his path as the dragons closed in on him with their flames.

* * *

Both Masaru and Izumi fell, each clutching a shoulder as if that'd been struck down by something.

The knowledge seekers looked up from the pile of tomes they'd collected.

"Our bodies are under attack!" Izumi announced.

"How are we able to feel it from the spirit world? I thought just our spirits traveled here," Masaru said dropping his book.

"Our inner flame always exists within us even if we send the dragons away!" Izumi explained running over to grab his hand. She bent down to one of the knowledge seekers, her favorite and the one who helped her since she first came.

"Help us get back!" She begged.

The knowledge seeker touched its nose to her head and they went.

* * *

They both returned with a gasp, feeling blood running down their backs. Burns on their skin after something had cut through the fabric of their clothes. They checked Lin. She was unharmed. Unchanged.

Then the dragons. They were weary but okay. Then the room. There were dents in the walls, a shattered window, a downed chandelier and snapped candles. Earthen wedges bent out of the floor.

"What happened here?!" Izumi demanded shrilly, her eyes practically burning with fury when she saw the state of the infirmary.

The dragon touched her. _An earthbender boasting green flames came._

"What was his name?!"

 _Tetsuya Lee…. son of Masaru and Izumi….._

"No!" Izumi removed her hands from Lin's skin, not wanting to burn her friend in her rage. "NO! I don't believe you!"

"Izumi! It's no use arguing with yourself!" Masaru snapped. "Just focus on Lin. I think I know how to help her."

They used their bending to reach into the tiniest microfilaments of each motor neuron and pulled the melted receptors back into their proper shape and orientation on the surface of the cell.

"Ready to try her?" Izumi asked, letting go.

Masaru nodded and placed one hand on her sternum and one on her stomach and jolted her entire system with one quick pulse.

They both turned their hair dark again and waited. They heard her groan. "Saru? Zumi?" Lin whispered. She coughed. "You came!" She exclaimed weakly.

"You were right. Going to the outer isles was a waste of time. I hope it's not too late to be here for family," Izumi said to Lin.

"What about your nation?"

"How can I help anyone else while I am in such a state of disarray?" Izumi asked. "I'm glad you're okay," she squeezed Lin's arm. "Your daughter and husband will want to see you. How are you feeling?"

"Never more grateful for light," Lin replied, weakly turning her head towards a window.

"Shall we bring them in?" Izumi asked Masaru. He lifted the sheet over Lin's naked body led Izumi to the door.

"Xiaoyu, Tenz, she's awake but weak," Izumi announced. Xiaoyu pushes past and ran in.

"Mama, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" She cried dropping on her mother's body, lightly.

"It's not your fault that evil exists in the world, my darling girl," Lin said weakly placing a hand on the back of her youngest daughter's head.

"What happened in here?" Tadashi gasped upon seeing the structural damage to the interior of the infirmary where a massive fight clearly took place. Scorch marks, earthen wedges, craters, shattered glass and a destroyed chandelier no less.

"And why didn't I feel it?" Huifan asked, touching one of the earthen wedges. "It's like my seismic sense just doesn't work in the Fire Nation."

 _ **Tsuya came in,**_ Sunako said darkly.

"You're both bleeding. Why are you both bleeding?" Kya asked Izumi and Masaru.

"Whoever attacked us was clearly an earthbender. It couldn't been boys been fire since birth!" Izumi replied firmly as Sunako began to strip Izumi with her water tentacles to get easier access to her wounds.

"Whatever attacked you—" Tenzin stuttered. "How could you not know what attacked you? Weren't you in the room the entire time?"

"We took a trip— to try to find out how to fix Lin," Izumi replied trying to be vague.

"To the spirit world? But how is that even possible?"

"Why are you surprised? My uncle got in! Why would I be able to?" Izumi asked, offended, trying to stand. Sunako yanked her back to seating and bent a band of ice over the Fire Lord's knees so she couldn't escape her healing session while Kya worked on Masaru.

"So an earthbender attacked you while you were in the spirit world?" Tadashi asked.

"How do you know it wasn't Lin?" Miyoko asked angrily.

"Yoko!" Masaru scolded warningly.

"Lin is an incredibly accomplished earthbender but I don't think even she could so precisely with only her subconscious," Izumi said.

"But you can't confirm or deny it since you weren't here. You could only look at the evidence. She was the only earthbender in here when it happened," Miyoko replied.

"You're right, we weren't," Izumi sighed, turning to Masaru's. _But our inner fires were._

"Mother, are they gone?" Tetsuya asked, running out of the supply cupboard of the infirmary with similar burns and cuts to what both Masaru and Izumi had.

"Tsuya!" Izumi rushed over to him, breaking the ice that Sunako used to attempt to bind her.

"Mother!" They embraced.

"Why did you come in here when I explicitly told you to stay away?!" Izumi demanded angrily, holding him by his ears, but not hurting him in any way.

"I was worried! I wanted to help! Forgive me, Mother!"

"What did you see?" Izumi asked.

"Nothing but a slab of earth as soon as I closed the door behind me," he replied, trembling.

"I'm just glad you're okay!" Izumi exclaimed.

As soon as Izumi let go of Tetsuya, a water tentacle ensnared the man's neck and lifted him in the air.

"SUNAKO!"

 _ **He did it**_! Sunako sneered.

"Sunako drop him!" Izumi yelled, shooting lightning in the handler's direction without hesitation. Sunako dove off of the infirmary bed and struck the Fire Lord. Yoko, Masaru, and Tetsuya all opened fire on the handicapped waterbender but Sunako halted their advance with bloodbending. "You dare—,"

 _ **As I have told you before, I will do whatever it takes to protect you and your family even if that means a sacrifice is necessary!**_ Sunako replied, forcing Masaru, Miyoko and Tetsuya all to kneel as Tadashi, Hiryur, Tenzin, Huifan, Kya, and Xiaoyu watched on with horror.

"Sunako, you are off my guard. You will find Princess Ursa and not leave her side until you can earn your former place again," Izumi ordered.

Sunako's eyes narrowed and she released her bloodbending hold on Masaru, Miyoko and Tetsuya and stormed out of the room.

"She's only trying to help, Zumi," Lin asked.

"I know," Izumi replied looking down. She could feel her temperature raising. "We should let Lin rest." She said to everyone.

Neither Xiaoyu nor Tenzin wanted to go.

"I'll be fine," Lin said squeezing Xiaoyu's hand.

"I'll watch her, Dad," Huifan offered.

* * *

A an hour later, a messenger came to the Earthen Hall to find Tenzin and Xiaoyu who were waiting with their extended family for news.

"Master Tenzin, Xiaoyu, the Fire Lord requires your attendance in the throne room," the messenger informed them.

"Why?" Xiaoyu asked.

"It is not my place to question my Lord, milady," the messenger responded.

"Let's go, Xiaoyi. Best not to keep her Royal Lordship waiting," Tenzin sighed with resignation.

When they arrived, they found The Fire Lord waiting, her wounds healed and herself redressed, flanked by Tadashi and Hiryur both in full armor.

"I must inform you that we must conscript Xiaoyu for a reconnaissance mission," Izumi said to Tenzin.

"You cannot make her!" Tenzin protested.

"I can and I will," Izumi responded sternly. "She is the only one close to him. The only one he will trust. According to my sources, she is the only one with his trust. He has promised once that they will meet again. We can use that to our advantage."

"Xiaoyu is MY DAUGHTER!"

"But she is on my soil!"

"I won't let you EXPLOIT HER!"

"I don't have a choice! Do you want others to suffer the same fate as your dear wife?"

"We can send another!"

"Arguing with me on my own soil, in my own home is futile, Tenzin. You may be family, but you have no power here—"

Tenzin drew a tense breath. "Izumi— this isn't you—"

"How would you know? You haven't really spoken to me in decades. People change!"

"Apparently not always for the better!"

"Xiaoyu," Izumi turned to her niece menacingly.

"Dad, let me!" Xiaoyu pleaded her father. "Please—"

"—my love, you cannot possibly be thinking—"

"I—" Xiaoyu glanced at Izumi whilst trembling with fear and apprehension. "I want to make things right— for Mom. I'll be okay!"

Tenzin has tears in his eyes.

"If anything happens to her," he threatened.

"It won't," Izumi responded, her golden-tangerine eyes boring into Tenzin's grey ones. The airbender crossed his arms, resigned. As an Air Nomad, he could not retaliate against the Fire Lord no matter how much he wanted to. Izumi, of course, knew that and had used it to her advantage. The Fire Lord turned to the young airbender, who stood petrified by her anxiety.

"Aunt Zumi, I'm scared."

"I know, sweet girl, but don't worry. You won't get hurt any more today. You will be safe. This I promise. You won't ever be alone on your journey. You WILL come back home in one complete piece," Izumi said. She lifted a hand to Xiaoyu's shoulder and placed the other over her heart. "Just don't forget to breathe. Find comfort in the air around you. Let it envelop you, Xiaoyi. Let it calm you."

Xiaoyu trembled.

"Remember your lessons, and don't try to fight me," Izumi said sternly, bending the electrical impulses in the seventeen year old airbender's body.

Tenzin watched his daughter transform. Xiaoyu took a deep breath and her face relaxed, her shoulders fell back and her finger's uncurled. She opened her eyes. The innocently terrified spark that once shone in her eyes had vanished as if all of the light had been horn out from facial muscles relaxed and her breathing slowed. She stopped trembling completely appearing as calm as Huifan was when reading a fashion magazine.

Izumi let go of the seventeen-year-old and examined her handiwork.

"What are you thinking?" she asked the girl.

"Nothing," Xiaoyu replied.

"Do you care about your mother?"

"I do!"

"Then you will find Kohaku, You will go on another date with him. You will apologize for intervening with his attempted murder. You will remember everything he does and tells you. Offer to infiltrate the palace. Make him believe you love him and then return to me. Do you understand, Xiaoyi?" Izumi asked.

She nodded solemnly.

"Don't be afraid. Smile. This is a good day. You can make a difference and save so many from what your mother had to experience this morning. Now go. Tadashi and Hiryur will escort you," Izumi ordered.

Xiaoyu bowed and turned.

"What did you do to my daughter?" Tenzin asked, mortified by Xiaoyu's transformation.

"I suppressed the fear center in her brain," Izumi replied simply, walking away from Tenzin back towards her private offices.

"You did what?!" Tenzin yelped, chasing after her.

"She'll be fine! Just think of it this way. I've simply made her more like Huifan. Your eldest daughter is fearless in the face of danger. She is perfectly content fighting for what is right. She is willing to do anything—"

"You've robbed her of her personality. You've stripped my daughter of the essence that makes her _her_!"

"It's only temporary! Stop complaining or i'll have to have you physically removed from this hall! Go back to the others!" Izumi yelled before disappearing into her offices with the slam of a door.

Izumi leaned against her door with a sigh, took off her crown and removed the ring that held her bun in place.

"Mother, she'll be okay," Miyoko said, sitting in the chair on the guest side of Izumi's desk.

"And you won't ever be interrogated again because of someone's baseless suspicions," Izumi replied. "I can't believe Lin would go after you. I understand the boys, but you're just a baby. It's so unfair!"

"Life isn't fair, but we make do," Miyoko replied calmly.

"That couldn't be more true," Izumi replied, swiftly returning to her chair to review the reports from the kidnapping investigation that Genkei now ran solo.


	49. 2,19 Unraveling at the Seams

**Chapter 19: Unraveling at the Seams**

* * *

It was sundown when Xiaoyu returned to the palace with Tadashi and Hiryur guarding her.

"She did exceptionally well!" Tadashi reported, bringing Xiaoyu directly before the Fire Lord in the throne room.

Tenzin stood by one of the pillars where he had been the entire time, pacing anxiously, waiting for his daughter's. Izumi day atop her throne with Miyoko standing beside her behind the wall of blue flames that the Fire Lord kept ablaze.

"We will start off with the basics. What does he look like?"

"Tall, lean, fair skinned, dark hair, with red highlights."

"His eye color?"

"Amber."

"Like yours?"

"Lighter," Xiaoyu replied, her stoic expression fading, her open hands resting on her knees curling into a fist over her knee as she grew increasingly tense.

As the interrogation continued, more of her body began to shake until her entire being was trembling with fear again as she gave all of the information she could remember from the third date.

"You've done exceptionally well, dear niece," Izumi said standing, satisfied with her niece's report.

"Thank you, Aunt Zumi," Xiaoyu replied standing as well, keeping her head low. Izumi took step forward, through the flames and Xiaoyu took a full step back, stumbling, scaring herself with the instability. Izumi examined her disposition critically.

"Forgive me, Aunt Zumi!" Xiaoyu whimpered, her voice cracking. "May I go see my mother now?"

"Yes," Izumi replied. "You may."

Tenzin glared at the Fire Lord then followed his daughter as she fled the hall for the Infirmary.

* * *

"Xiaoyi! You're back!" Jiexue exclaimed, sitting on the bed with Huifan, Hungjian, and Jinora surrounding Lin.

"Uh oh!" Huifan said practically leaping to clear the way so Xiaoyu could dive into her mother, tears pouring down her pale face.

"What happened?" Lin asked wrapping her arms around her daughter as she nestled into her mother's body.

"Mama, I was so scared!" Xiaoyu squeaked.

"Izumi sent her back to Kohaku to gather information!" Tenzin announced.

"What?" Hungjian exclaimed.

"The gall of that woman!" Jiexue yelled.

"Why didn't you run?" Lin asked Xiaoyu.

"Because Aunt Zumi changed me," Xiaoyu replied. "At first, I didn't feel I needed to flee. I wasn't afraid in the beginning. But that faded. Mama, I wanted to scream. Knowing what he could do, what he DID do to you—his presence alone terrified me."

"And you still stayed?" Lin asked in disbelief. "You know you could always come back to me."

"But Aunt Zumi— if I didn't return with a complete report—I don't know what she would do to me if I returned with nothing!" Xiaoyu replied, quickly hiding her face in her mother's torso as if expecting some immediate punishment from somewhere for speaking truly. "I needed enough information for a complete report."

Lin could not be more disturbed. "You are her niece, not a servant in her Amber League. She has no right to threaten you."

"But Ma, it is her country. She can do anything," Xiaoyu replied.

Jiexue stood. "I call bullshit. In Grandfather Aang's memorial he wrote about a time soon after the war when Fire Lord Zuko and Earth King Kuei almost ended up back at war. Zuko made Grandfather promise to end him if he 'became bad' as Ozai, Azulon, and Sozin were."

"Izumi made no such demands of her friends to keep her in check."

"Well maybe she should have. Would have spared the rest of us a lot of headaches," Jiexue said, racing out of the infirmary and towards the throne room. With the push of her hands she blew the doors open, boldly staring down the occupants inside.

"We'll finish later," Izumi said, dismissing Tadashi and Hiryur. They both bowed and swept out of the throne room through a side door.

"HOW DARE YOU USE DARK LIGHTNING ON MY LITTLE SISTER! hOW DARE YOU INVADE HER BODY WITH SUCH A PERVERTED FORM OF BENDING THAT EVEN OUTWEIGHS THE MANIPULATION OF BLOOD! YOU CHANGED HER BRAIN!

"It didn't hurt her! It calmed her down. It made her more like your other sister, Huifan, if anything."

"But it didn't last-"

"It lasted long enough. She didn't collapse onto a blithering heap before Kohaku and give the entire operation away, thank the Spirits!"

Jiexue's face scrunched up in disgust. "How could you be so cruel? You're a mother, how would you like it if someone did that to any of your children?"

Izumi's golden-tangerine eyes flared in anger. "I should ask the same of yours. Was it not her who grilled my youngest for half a day on the basis of some groundless suspicions stemming from her efforts to defend her father from sibling assault yesterday!

"Yoko isn't as sensitive as Xiaoyu, and she isn't as young either-"

"-because ten months make SUCH a difference at this age-"

"-we all know that, and so should you!"

"You're right," Izumi responded, crossing her arms. "Yoko isn't isn't WEAK like Xiaoyu, but that doesn't justify the unfair treatment she received from Republic City's former Esteemed Chief of Police! Then again, small wonder your city is constantly falling into disarray with your mother going after the innocents in her investigations."

Jiexue rolled her shoulders, desperately trying to restrain herself from striking the Fire Lord. Insulting her defenseless little sister was one thing, but her mother? Her mother who wouldn't be near death if it weren't for the woman sitting in front of her? Oh no, that was something that could not slide. "LET ME ASK YOU SOMETHING, _AUNT_ IZUMI! Do you gain pleasure from hurting little girls? This is my _LITTLE sister_ we're talking about, my sister who wouldn't dare hurt an ant much less act aggressively towards anyone. Do you know what she told me when she came back? Xiaoyu said she was scared of Kohaku but was even more terrified of what _you'd_ do if she returned without anything to say. You are just another tyrant, do you know that? Another CRUEL tyrant who relies on fear to control those within your borders. You're no better than your grandfather, Ozai and his dearest protege Azula! She must be _crowing_ with delight to see what you've done!"

Izumi's hair flared blue as she held back her tears. "You DARE compare me to those MONSTERS? You HAVE NO IDEA what true cruelty is! You have no idea what it is like to be sold as a slave! You have no idea what it is like to be paralyzed AND raped daily for YEARS! To lose a baby and just be discarded like a soiled napkin on a boardwalk on a summer day! You have NO IDEA what it is like to have your five year old daughter torn from your arms and sent away to be abused and molded into a war machine by your enemies."The Fire Lord took a deep breath to control herself. "ALL I DO, I DO FOR PEACE-TO SAVE OTHERS FROM SUFFERING THE SAME FATE THAT I HAVE BEEN SO FORTUNATE TO RECEIVE."

"Is that what you call yourself at night when you look in the mirror before bed? A peacekeeper?" Jiexue asked, arching her eyebrow. "Because that's not what I've seen in the slightest."

"I call myself nothing. I haven't been allowed the luxury of a mirror since I was nine. Mother didn't want me to become vain." Izumi responded, folding her arms and turning away to hide her pain. "They told me Iliana was completely responsible for my appearance, and yet when one hair came out of place, I was the one they blamed."

Jiexue's reaction. "You claim you aren't vain, but did you not exert control over my little sister because you knew you could? You claim to care, might even think it yourself, but the minute your cruel lightning touched my sister we all knew that was a lie. Protecting your nation or not, what you did to my sister was wrong, and nothing more than a political play in your sick and twisted world."

"I am not cruel. I do not give you certain expectations only to change them without any warning. I do not exploit you. I do not use you for political gain or to better my public reputation. I try my best to minimize your pain, but still must do what I have to to protect my family and my nation. As I am sure you would too."

Jiexue just stared back. Her rage was still there. "I am really sorry you had a shit upbringing, Aunt Zumi, but that gives you no right to take out your demons on anyone, much less my baby sister. You will not touch her, not as long as I'm alive, are we clear?"

"Crystal," Izumi replied stiffly, regretting so many moments in her life.

"Good. Now excuse me, for I have to go make sure my mother isn't dying," Jiexue said leaving swiftly.

* * *

Izumi was shaking when Masaru returned to their room.

"I'm sorry!" She cried when she heard the door open. "I know, I shouldn't have snapped!"

"Save your apologies for Lin's children. You've done nothing to me."

"Oh! But I have! They're your nieces- your blood family."

"They're also young. They'll recover, Izumi."

"That is what they said about me all my life but now look what I've become. I'm a monster, just like my forefathers!"

"You're not a monster, Izumi. Just heavily flawed, as is everybody." Masaru replied, lifting the ceremonial armor off of his fiancee's shoulders. "Just breathe. Breathe and let down your hair. Nobody will see you here," Masaru said sitting beside her, removing her crown and golden hairpiece in one fluid movement.

Izumi closed her eyes and her hair turned blue, her six dragons appearing. Five had become so tiny. The largest now was fear.

Masaru stared it down, letting his dragons out as well while Izumi sobbed on his shoulder. His largest dragon was the defender, the one who always husband to Izumi, who battled her fears and tried to build up her happiness again in times like these.

"Why don't we let them battle it out for a while?" Masaru suggested, reaching between her legs.

"Please, don't-" Izumi said, grabbing his wrist before he could touch her. "Just- hold me tonight."

Masaru shrugged and turned her around to untie her gown and corsets for the night before laying down. She tossed the clothes onto the floor and curled up against his body, squeezing her eyes shut while their dragons battled for dominance over each others' energies. "I have become bad, haven't I? Just like Ozai…"

"Don't you think for one moment that-"

"Then why did Jiexue say that?"

"Because she is a child. A child whose mother is immobilized, who saw her baby sister cry. She was angry and wanted to protect her family by scaring you away. She wanted to hurt you." Masaru explained, tucking a lock of blue hair away from Izumi's tear filled eyes. "And YOU let her succeed. Don't blame her for her immaturity. She's only nineteen-"

"I was nineteen and engaged to marry," Izumi responded bitterly.

"Times have changed."

"I know. But my own family shouldn't need protection from me unless… I've truly become as mean as they think me…"

"You're not mean. They're just not used to your penchant for dark lightning," Masaru explained. "Just give them time." Izumi leaned into his chest. She winced as her largest dragon got beheaded to the side of their bed. He held her head with his large hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist. "You're alright," he said holding her tightly. "You're okay. The pain you feel now, will go away… you're alright, you're okay; there is more to you than what they say…" He stroked her temple for a few minutes as she cried for a while, then found the pressure point at the base of her neck and put her down cold just as her mother used to do when she was too anxious to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Iliana found her Fire Lord still in bed. "Come now, my Lord. It is time to wake. You're late, you have a nation to run, and the world waits for no one, not even the Fire Lord." Iliana sang, yanking the curtains over the window open and letting the sunlight flood in.

Izumi groaned. "What would I have to give to get you to assassinate me?" She asked pulling the blankets around her body grumpily.

"Nice try, but nothing could convince me to do such a thing," Iliana said, resting a cool hand on the Fire Lord's bare shoulder. "Get up!"

Izumi stirred and sat up reluctantly, squinting away from the sunlight, not wanting to have to deal with another day.

"Did you sleep well, My Lord?" Iliana asked gently with the kindest smile on her face as if Izumi were again a young, angry little girl.

"As well as I could with Saru beside me, keeping me from exploding in my sleep," Izumi responded, rubbing her eyes wearily as Iliana knelt on the bed behind her to brush her waist length grey hair.

"Good!" Iliana exclaimed. "Now come on. The bath is already beginning to get cold again."

"You really think that would be a problem for me?" Izumi asked trudging off to the bathroom to bathe.

* * *

Her fingers dug into the bedpost as Iliana laced her corsets that morning, just like every other. She pouted and occasionally licked the curtains with blue flames.

"Your futile threats to set the room ablaze won't help you escape your duties, my Lord," Iliana reminded Izumi, amused that the woman still tried. "It has been nearly fifty years and you still aren't used to it?"

"Iliana," Izumi asked. "Have you ever even worn a corset?"

"Never, my lord. Such a fine garment isn't to be wasted on a lowly servant."

"Then imagine for me having your ribs piercing your lungs from dawn until dusk for nearly five decades and then tell me if you ever got used to it," Izumi replied grumpily.

"It can't be that bad. Even Lin's little one, Xiaoyu didn't complain when we laced her in for her date with Kohaku-" Iliana commented casually.

"YOU FORCED MY NIECE INTO A CORSET?" Izumi shrieked, torching the post. Iliana casually put out the fire with a piece of fabric and then returned to the Fire Lord's clothing.

"She wanted to dress in something classical and formal for the wind symphony, so I gave her something classical and formal," Iliana replied simply.

"What difference did you give her?" Izumi asked darkly.

"She's already pretty small, so we just went with twenty seven to twenty three. Something easy for a first-timer," Iliana replied.

Izumi's eyes narrowed.

"I should have banned these things the night of my coronation!" Izumi growled as the door to the room clicked open.

"Mr. Lee!"

"Will you give us the room, Iliana?" Masaru asked. "Don't worry. I'll finish the dressing so we stay on schedule."

Iliana looked between the Fire Lord and the businessman, then bowed to her master and left.

Izumi turned back to the post slowly. "Have you spoken to Genkei? Is he mad that I left him in the outer isles to treat Lin, and didn't take him with me?" Izumi asked as Masaru took the laces that ran up her arching back.

"Not at all," Masaru asked pulling stronger and more at once than Iliana ever did.

"Is he doing okay?"

"Excellently. Only three attempts have been made on his life since we spoke last, yesterday evening," Masaru replied nonchalantly, easily closing the garment around his fiance's hips. She shifted uncomfortably.

"Are you being sarcastic?" Izumi asked skeptically.

"No. Every true member of the Amber League understands the potential sacrifice they MUST make to keep the peace."

"Then what brings you to my room this morning while I am still indecent?" Izumi asked as he closed the corset around her waist.

"What does decency matter when it is just us, Zumi? Have you forgotten that I know every part of your body? Have you forgotten that I've impregnated you six times? Seeing you middressing is hardly anything out of the ordinary," Masaru said, reaching where the device wrapped her lower ribs.

Izumi gasped. "Saru-" She put a hand to his wrist trying to stop him. "Iliana never closes it! Please- stop- you're hurting me!" Izumi cried as he pulled the corset completely closed around her torso.

He tied off the knot and pulled her against him so that his mouth was near her ear. " Xiaoyu is missing."

"What?" Izumi shrieked trying to turn. He turned her again, so that she remained facing away. He was physically stronger than her, and their bending equally matched, so she couldn't even burst into flames to escape.

"Lin doesn't know, and you are not going to tell her, do you understand?" Masaru asked.

"Saru- after frightening her children and traumatizing her youngest daughter, it is the LEAST I can do now that one's gone MISSING!" Izumi replied, trying in vain to break free from his grip on her body.

"No," Masaru replied firmly.

"Why are you doing this?" Izumi whimpered.

"Jinora came directly to me when she discovered a letter left by her favorite sister. She thinks her sister has a plan and wants us to wait a while before going after her."

"Alright, fine, but why are you closing me in?" Izumi asked, her chest heaving out of her corsets.

"I thought that closing your corsets could remind you with pain that you're still human, since you wouldn't allow me to do it last night with pleasure. You've been slipping, Izumi."

"And who are you to be the judge of my sanity?"

"I feel you. I see your hair turn blue when you're afraid or angry. I hear you argue more and more with old friends and dear family. You hurt two of your nieces yesterday and have fallen out with your favorite moon badger. I know you and under normal circumstances, you would NEVER hurt family under any circumstance. You'd spare them. That is why we built the Amber League in the beginning, remember? - to protect our children and YOUR sanity. You introduced our children to their handlers scarcely an hour after your coronation. Their safety has always been your priority."

"So this is a punishment? From my own fiance-"

"I don't like doing it, Izumi. But it is for the family."

"I don't need to be disciplined by you! I am the Fire Lord!"

"Then act like the Fire Lord and not a terrified child bullying other children to do your bidding!" Masaru yelled at her.

Izumi winced as if he struck her.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice at you. It was out of line as a citizen of our nation and a colleague in the Amber League," Masaru said, finally letting go of the knot that kept Izumi in and stepping away.

"No, you're right. I have been faltering and letting fear corrupt me. I'm sorry…. About everything," Izumi said walking slowly over to the dresser to get a clean pair of pants. "And I won't tell Lin about Xiaoyu going missing."

"Good."

"So will you help me finish or will you leave and call Iliana back in?" Izumi asked impatiently.

Masaru picked up the unyielding shoulder straps that Izumi had hoped he'd forgotten and secured them to her back, looping them under her arms, over her shoulders again and pulled them taut to the original fastenings, forcing her posture straight. She grimaced with discomfort as he then strode over to her concealed closet and produced a clean set of ceremonial robes for his fiancee, holding it up for her to slip in, before securing it with a golden cord around her waist. He reached for the heavy armor and set it gently on her shoulders, tying the collar on last before addressing her already-brushed hair.

"May I speak with Jinora this morning about what she believes to be her sister's plans for the time being?" Izumi asked once all that was left was her crown.

"Yes, but you will not use dark lightning on her, do you understand?" Masaru said, his tone warning.

"Perfectly." Izumi replied.

"Good," Masaru said, slipping her crown into her bun.

"If I could bend metal, I'd crush it and cast it away, never to be seen again just like Kuvira did to that Kyoshi Medal of Freedom. That would be great, wouldn't it?" Izumi asked. Masaru didn't respond. Izumi sighed. "Well, how do I look?" she asked, thinking about the mirrors she was forbidden from having.

"The same as any other day," Masaru replied, tucking that one loose hair behind her ear.

"Thanks," Izumi replied sadly, circling some nondescript place on the floor with her feet.

"You know," Masaru began a little more softly. "You can get a mirror now, and nobody can stop you, _Fire Lord_ Izumi."

"And in theory, I could also stop wearing these wretched corsets, but it is tradition. And my mother has convinced me that they're necessary for the governors and ministers to take me seriously. Or… at least keep them engaged during those dreadfully long policy meetings. I've been made that way. I cannot change."

"You can. You DID for our children. You're not like your mother in that sense. You're a revolutionary, just like those in the Rogue League." Masaru said, removing his hands from her shoulders.

* * *

"Thank you for meeting me here today, Jinora," Izumi said politely, turning away from the window, waving for the fifteen year old to take a seat across from her at the small, round table in the Eastern Tea Room.

"No worries, but I didn't really have a choice, did I, Aunt Zumi?" Jinora asked, settling into her seat.

Izumi let her eyes close for a moment as the comment hurt, but didn't let her anger, or temperature rise.

"You will always have a choice, Jinora," Izumi said softly. Jinora frowned but said nothing in response. "You're probably wondering why I called you here. I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I made the wrong choice, so many wrong choices in fact.," Izumi informed the girl, cautiously. She desperately did not want to make any more mistakes with family. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"No thanks," Jinora replied, surprising Izumi.

Izumi sat down apprehensively, one hand on her diaphragm, trying to steady her breathing as she sat slowly, her clothing digging into her lungs painfully.

"But Aunt Zumi, why apologize to me? You've done nothing to me-"

"I did. I made a mistake that hurt your sister and by extension you. And I just- wanted to atone for that and help save her if such a move is deemed necessary."

"It is not. Not yet, at least," Jinora responded treading carefully.

"If you are willing, I was wondering if you might divulge what you know of Xiaoyu's plans now that she's left the palace," Izumi stated.

"You didn't read the letter she left, did you?" Jinora asked with a sigh.

"No. I assume Masaru had it- and he didn't seem too keen on wanting me to read it, so I didn't ask."

"And you let that stand?" Jinora inquired.

"I trust and respect his judgement," Izumi replied, looking up.

Jinora took a moment of pensive silence before speaking again. "Is he the only one?"

"What do you mean?" Izumi asked.

"Is he the only one you trust and respect. Does he really rule this country or you?" Jinora tested.

Izumi felt her blood boil, but cooled it quickly, with difficulty. She clenched her fists instead, feeling the palms of her hand bleed, drew a breath, and exhaled slowly. "He has known me since I was scarcely five years old," Izumi said quietly, looking at her reflection briefly in the cup of still perfectly still, cold tea. Jinora's brows furrowed. "He is the only one that truly knows me."

Jinora took pity on her. "Xiaoyu has joined the Rogue League. She wanted to prove to you that she wasn't weak, after hearing the contents of that argument you had with Jiexue. She wanted to show you that she didn't need help to stay calm. She wanted to prove herself worthy of the names Yeshe and Beifong and that she is strong and not the pacifistic airbending nun that my father and her mother wanted her to be."

Izumi's eyes narrowed, and her teeth bared. This was so much worse than she could have imagined. "All she has proven is that she is an impulsive little airhead!" Izumi spat, as two candles on the edge of the room flared. Blue briefly. Jinora sat back in her chair, startled.

"I'm sorry!" Izumi said, quickly shaking her head, extinguishing the flames.

"Impulsive- just like a hot headed aunt/Fire Lord I have recently met," Jinora braved. "Please, Aunt Zumi. Let her go. She has a plan. She may seem innocent, but she is not ignorant. Do not confuse the two."

"Like my aunt Ty Lee," Izumi said quietly.

"Xiaoyu knows what she is doing now."

"I hope you're right, little spiderfly," Izumi said, looking down at the airbending teenager sadly.

* * *

Izumi decided to brave the Earthen Hall for lunch that midday rather than hide away in the solitude of her private offices and try to… be a part of a family again. As she entered the room, leaving Tadashi and Hiryur outside the door, she felt several sets of eyes turn to her. She tried to ignore them as she found her way to the table with food, taking a small bowl and examining everything the cooks had to offer carefully before choosing what to put in her meal. She listened as the chatter of her nieces and nephews gave way to a dismal, maddening silence as she began to fill hew bowl quietly. She reached for an egg and came face to face, eye to eye with one of Suyin's twins. His hair was parted on the left, and his necklace had rounded, not sharp edges. "Wei, why are you staring at me?" she asked sternly.

"Sorry, Aunt Zumi. We're just not used to seeing you here with the common folk," Wei stammered, his gaze pausing on her crown for a noticeable fraction of a second. "- Aunt Zumi." He finished with a nod before taking his large, full plate, and hurrying away quickly.

Izumi sighed, feeling miserable in her skin, wanting so much to shed it like a snake and retreat to the inside of a gopher-hog dwelling and never again have to see another face.

"I guess it is just strange to think that soon you will be part of the family, since you kind of haven't dined with us once since our arrival in your country," Wing added following his twin just as quickly.

Izumi's brows furrowed and she looked down, quickly replacing a brief look of disappointment with indifference before looking up again in search of a seat at one of the six tables. She was alone in a room of strangers. She wondered if this was what it was like the first time each of her children went to school. If they were this terrified in the canteen back before they knew anybody. After a childhood only knowing Saru, so many strangers, so close to her, was terrifying.

"Zumiya, sit here; I'll stand," Masaru ordered, rising with a cleared plate, making a space beside Baatar.

Izumi hung her head and hurried over quickly, always finding security in being near her beloved. Even among old friends, she felt like an alien.

"So," Suyin said taking a sip of wine. "When do you think _she'll_ walk again?" Suyin asked darkly, her cheeks already flushed red from drinking in the morning.

"Hopefully by this evening," Izumi replied. "I haven't yet had a chance to visit Lin this morning, but her central and peripheral nervous system were both left fully intact. She always was fully receptive to sensory input and as of last evening, her motor neurons have been on the mend."

"What did Kohaku Ge do to her?" Suyin asked.

"I don't know. It is difficult to ever know exactly with dark lightning. The art is just as versatile and complex as the human brain. Even my aunt couldn't completely understand all of its applications," Izumi responded.

"Then what was he trying to do?" Suyin asked.

"Kill her," Izumi said, looking Suyin in the eye. _I will not break. Not again. Not today._

"How?" Suyin asked, finishing her glass.

"By shutting down the nerves responsible for the smooth muscle cells. The ones we cant control in the heart, the lungs, and the stomach. Without those, the brain becomes deprived of oxygen and nutrients and dies, in the most terrible way."

The entire room fell silent.

"Zumi, I'm going to check on Genkei and the investigation out east," Masaru said with a hand on Izumi's aching shoulder, checking that the straps were still in place. "Play nicely," he whispered in her ear before kissing the top of her head and walking away.

"Thank you, Love," Izumi replied, squeezing his head before turning her attention to her food bowl. She took a shallow breath and a first bite.

"You look as if you're in pain," Kya noted.

"The crown is just exceptionally heavy today, as it is most days," Izumi replied, honestly.

"I didn't think you'd come," Kohaku said, approaching the airbender with his hands in his pockets. "After everything."

Xiaoyu was swirling a finger in the boiling lake. She turned to him with her striking amber eyes, heart shaped face, and shoulder length wavy hair. "I made a promise I would, didn't I?" She replied smoothly. "Airbender's honor."

He smiled. "So what do you think about my offer?"

"I cannot wait to start at the Academy. You're right. All they do is place limits on what we could achieve. We are the future and need the freedom to explore our potential. We deserve to change with the world," Xiaoyu replied, standing.

He offered her a hand and she accepted it and smiled. With a single motion, he pulled her close and stuck her in the neck with a needle. "You've nothing to fear if here is, indeed, where your true loyalties lie," He said in her ear as she fell limp against him.

* * *

Sunako finished filling her flask with special water collected from the spirit oasis in the Northern Water Tribe and headed to take over for Rinjuk as guard for the Princess's room during the girl cousins' sleepover.

 _ **Xiaoyu's bed is empty,**_ Sunako commented on her parchment with a frown of disapproval.

"Obviously," Jiexue replied tersely.

Sunako raised a brow. _**Are you all privy to her plans with the Rogue League?**_

"Unfortunately," Ikki said from Jinora's bed, where she was curled up against her sister. Sunako noted the stuffed sky bison in the little girl's arms, most likely brought for much-needed comfort.

 _ **Good. I must say I'm impressed. I didn't think the air baby had it in her to actually stay this long with that bastard.**_

"Do you really think she'll be okay?" Huifan asked.

"If she was paying attention my lessons earlier, she'll be able to tell us if things go astray no matter where they take her," Jinora informed everybody.

"She'll survive. Of that I am sure," Miyoko interjected, laying on her back, staring at the ceiling blankly.

"Why did you do it?" Huifan asked.

"Do what?" Miyoko asked, feigning ignorance.

"I know you told your mom about that interrogation. You knew it would make her angry. You knew the fire in her veins would make her retaliate and targeting my baby sister was easy," Huifan replied.

"You are in a royal palace, in the Fire Nation, no less. Xiaoyu is not the only one with a plan in this mess," Miyoko explained. "Now go to bed. I'm sure tomorrow won't be any easier for anybody."

"Way to keep morale high, Yoko," Ursa grumbled sarcastically as she killed the torches in the room.

"Goodnight, all!"

"Goodnight!"

"Sleep tight!"

"Don't let the nargles bite!" Ikki added.

"What are nargles?"

"I haven't the slightest idea, but I read it in a book in the royal library," Ikki replied.

Some of her cousins groaned while the rest just rolled over and the girls all closed their eyes to sleep.

Sunako waited until all of their hearts slowed into the REM cycle to climb up to Miyoko's top bunk and finish restoring the memories the Fire Lord tried to take away that fateful night.

The spirit water glowed as it eased the eighteen year old's mind.

Sunako was just about done when she felt the cool touch of metal on her neck. _**How did you fool my sleep detection?**_ Sunako asked, holding her parchment to the moonlight.

"You're not the only bloodbender, in this room tonight," Huifan replied, holding six platinum blades to Sunako's neck, ready to decapitate the waterbender if necessary. "Step away from her."

Sunako replaced the remainder of the spirit water into the skein hanging from her belt and rose her nubs in surrender and turned with her eyes closed. As soon as she opened them, Huifan flew across the room by the blood in her body, falling with her knives.

"Fa-ni!" Jiexue screamed, waking up.

"A flame burst from Ursa's fist but died almost instantly as she froze at the end of Sunako's arm.

"You're- a blood bender?" Ursa gasped.

 _ **Always have been. That is why the Fire Lord assigned me to her youngest, so I could protect her from those who hope to destroy our great nation,**_ Sunako replied stilling everybody in the room, waiting for Yoko to wake.

"Well, you're not the only bloodbender!" Huifan said, ripping Sunako from her place, slamming her into the ceiling and then into the floor. Taking advantage of Sunako's newly compromised position, she latched a metal strip around the waterbender's arm and opposite leg, spinning her through the air and slamming her brutally into a wall

Sunako looked up with a feral glint in her eye as she stared down the earthbender challengingly.

 _ **Careful. You don't want to hurt your sisters, or for them to hurt each other!**_ Sunako taunted, throwing Huifan into the bunks with a turn on her knees so that the earthbender would be with her cousins, rendering them unable to surround Sunako when her grip on their blood slackened.

"You will rue the day you stepped foot on Fire nation Soil-" Ursa threatened leaping out of bed with lightning.

"Stop!" Miyoko yelled jumping off of her bunk and onto her older sister, bending the lightning out and at the ceiling.

Huifan bent pillars up to keep it from falling.

"She's innocent! She always has been!" Miyoko said with horror splayed across her face as her memories came flooding back in garbled fragments at first, and then composite scenes.

"What are you talking about?!" Huifan shrieked with disbelief.

"Sunako was my first handler, when I was twelve years old. She played with me and attended all of my lessons and ate with me when mother was too busy to concern herself with actually raising me. She slept with me to keep me safe from-"

 _Take the child, but kill the handler and let there be no bloodshed._

Miyoko clutched her head and crouched down as a feeling of electricity surged through her head.

* * *

" _MAAA! STOP!" Miyoko was screaming as electricity surged through her head, infecting her brain, changing things. She had to get away. She saw her mother's hands. Her legs kicking. She tried to bend the energy out of her. She saw her skinny little hand redirecting the lightning fed into her head. "STOP! Sunako is innocent! It was Taemon! MAAA!" Miyoko screamed. Thrashing about before anything went black._

The memory flashed.

" _YOKO! YOKO, RUN!" came Sunako's voice. She had a voice! Miyoko wanted to see her handler, but her memory dove into the vents. Metal latched around her ankle and pulled her out. She saw five men standing around her bound handler on the ground. Two were trying to kill her, but she was bloodbending._

" _But what about you?" Miyoko asked through tears._

" _I'll be fine! Just go!" Sunako yelled. "Yoko fight! Flee! Get to your mother! Warn her! They're coming!"_

" _Silence the blasted woman already!"_

 _One man electrocuted Sunako while two others each took a hand, cutting it with a flaming sword, then burning the flesh over to minimize bloodshed. The one with the lightning grabbed her tongue as she threw her head back and screamed and pulled it out, replacing it with two fingers in her mouth, using lightning to melt the flesh and close the wound. As Sunako doubled over over her arms where her hands used to be, the bodies of those three who maimed her were shredded to pieces, their blood frozen into shards sharper than broken glass, forcibly being torn from their bodies by her wild subconscious as she broke down in grief._

 _Miyoko shook with terror._

" _She'll probably be traumatized." Taemon's voice suggested to Izumi when they entered the room to find Miyoko covered in blood, kneeling, frozen in place, before a shredded sack of skin and bone in a heap in front of her._

" _OOh I have no doubt," Izumi replied trying to remain collected._

" _You can change that." Taemon whispered. "You know how." Izumi looked down at her baby girl. "Make her forget this ever happened. Spare her that pain."_

" _Is Sunako okay?" Miyoko asked, looking over at her handler who was doubled over in pain. Surrounded by the blood of two enemies and husks of the bodies._

" _Sunako," Izumi said trying to lift her head gently._

 _Sunako sat up slightly and showed the fire Lord what they'd done to her. They took her hands and burned the stubs to keep from bleeding out. Then they reached into her mouth and took her tongue, silencing the waterbender. That left only her eyes, and her subconscious to do what she had done, shredded the bodies of their enemies to protect Yoko._

" _You've chosen your agents well, Mother," Taemon said._

 _Just then the blood started pooling together. It pulled together into the form of one man and headed towards Miyoko. Miyoko screamed in terror and dove aside. Just beyond the blood monster's shoulder, were Taemon's eyes glaring at it in concentration, unblinking. And yet the only known blood bender in the room, took the blunt of Izumi's fury and received a bolt of paralyzing dark lightning._

" _It wasn't her!" Miyoko realized as the blood man retained its form for a few moments after Sunako was disabled. "MOTHER, IT WASN'T HER!"_

* * *

"It wasn't her! And in her denial mother got rid of her only witness!" Miyoko growled. "We have to warn the family! They're not coming. They're here!" The teen began heading for the door, readying herself to tell her parents the truth.

 _ **Yoko! Don't run ahead!**_ Sunako called flinging her paper in front of the girl's face. She burnt it to a crisp and kept walking as everyone followed.

She turned a corner too quickly and they heard a thud and saw Huan bent over Miyoko's limp body.

"I don't know what happened! It must have been a poison or something! There was no one!" Huan exclaimed brushing Miyoko's hair aside to inspect her face.

 _ **No one except you,**_ thought Sunako as she dropped by Miyoko's side to inspect what was wrong with the girl, trying to stay calm when- her blood was coagulating, rapidly. If circulation was halted completely, she would die in minutes, if they were lucky. Seconds, were more likely.

Sunako fumbled for a new sheet of parchment. _**Huifan! You need to reach into the iron. Unbind the blood cells from each other. Water doesn't behave this way. I cannot control the components that are causing the blockage! You HAVE to help! You're the only one! Ursa! Go with Jiexue and Jinora and wake Masaru and Izumi. Ikki, Opal, stay here, with me!**_

Ursa nodded and ran, holding Jiexue and Jinora's hand.

Huifan reached inside Yoko's bloodstream and tried to breakup the clots.

"I don't understand what I am supposed to be doing," Huifan cried.

 _ **You can turn a piece of solid meteor into a superfluous fluid. Do the same with the blood in her body. Make it flow again. Get it to the lungs, to retrieve oxygen, pass it through the heart and-**_

"But I don't know which direction! Aren't there blue and red veins with oxygenated and deoxygenated blood? If I go the wrong way, I could just kill her more quickly! I am sorry, Sunako, I have never been trained in human anatomy or healing! I don't know!" Huifan cried.

Ikki hid her face in Opal's chest with the stuffed sky bison in her arms, crying.

 _ **Then at least unclot and reliquefy it so I can reestablish the flow. Can you do that?**_ Sunako asked.

Huifan nodded. "I'll try."

Four minutes passed before Izumi and Masaru arrived.

Izumi dropped by her daughter's side and placed a hand on her head and her heart.

"Spirits hear my prayer, if there be death tonight, take me and not my daughter," Izumi whispered.

"Sunako, you're maintaining the flow?" Izumi asked.

 _ **Yes, my Lord-Huifan, another clot in the leg!**_

"Thank you for helping, Yeshe," Izumi said with a nod of appreciation. "As soon as that cleared, I'm going to try to restart the heart and the head."

 _ **You're sure that's wise, my Lord?**_

"Does it matter? Is anything I do right these days?" Izumi replied, sarcastically in the face of possible death. She looked down with a certain stillness as she mirrored her daughter's peaceful face. "Forgive me, my love. I know no other way." Izumi said before placing a hand on her head and her heart. Her body convulsed violently as Izumi held her down then she let go. Miyoko's chest rose and fell as she started breathing again. Sunako checked Yoko's head as Izumi sat back on her feet and Masaru put a hand on her shoulder.

 _ **She will live.**_

"She must." Izumi replied. "I already lost Gansu, I will not lose Yoko," Izumi said, quietly staring down at her daughter's face. She looked up at all of her nieces and her other daughter. "How did this happen?"

"We don't know. We were just going to get you when she rounded the corner and ran into Huan-" Opal began to say. "Wait, where is he?"

"Speaking of the devil's son-" Izumi muttered, standing. She turned to Masaru. "Put the palace on lock down. Nobody comes in, and nobody leaves. Send Iyuan and Mizoriko after Taemon. His school house restoration can wait. We need him here. Find Huan. Bring him to me and begin the standard sweep procedures. Family in the Golden Galley and staff in the throne room. Interrogations begin in the morning. Nobody is exempt, not even the most elite members of the league." Izumi ordered, turning to Sunako with her last order.

Even after having her suspicions dismissed for nearly a decade, and being cast out from the Fire Lord's personal guard, Sunako bowed respectfully. She loved her nation and her Fire Lord despite all that had been happening as of late for all the current Fire Lord did, she did for the good of the nation.


	50. 2,20 Betrayed

**Chapter 20: Betrayed**

* * *

The Golden Galley had been transformed from a spotless ballroom into a clean version of a war-time ghetto. Blankets strung up with twine between the pillars had transformed into hammocks for some of the boys. An assortment of blankets had been piled high for some of the girls, and a space had been cleared and 'de-polished' for Huifan to sleep directly on the dirt beneath.

In the throne room, Izumi was overseeing the set up of the staff's sleeping quarters. All nonessential tasks were halted. 95% of the palace was left unpatrolled so that the guards could be collected in the throne room.

"My Lord," Iyuan and Mizoriko returned, empty handed.

Izumi examined the void between the two men. "Where is he?"

"Customs say that he never left the Fire Islands," Iyuan replied.

"But hasn't been seen since leaving two days ago, by anybody My Lord. I am sorry," Mizoriko informed her, bowing low.

Izumi drew a breath pensively. "As I am sure you've heard, we are having interrogations here today," she began flatly.

They both nodded.

She eyed them both, then froze on Iyuan. "Thank you, Iyuan, for volunteering to go first," She said. "I will see you in the Granite Chamber in precisely four minutes. You know what to expect."

"Yes my Lord," Iyuan sighed, looking down.

"My Lord?" Another high ranking league member called.

Izumi turned to find another pair of her henchmen return empty-handed.

"Huan Beifong is nowhere to be found within our jurisdiction." the first informed the Fire Lord.

"Have you spoken with customs?" Izumi asked.

"He has not left the country," the second responded.

"And no one can find him?" Izumi verified.

"It appears so. Shall we request aid from the Dai Li?"

"No. They cannot be trusted."

"Then shall we tell the Earth Queen that her son is missing?"

"No, I will," Izumi decided. She left the throne room to Genkei, who had been called back for the interrogation day, and headed to the Golden Galley.

"Zumi! You're here!" Suyin said surprised, sitting with Kya, Tenzin, and Masaru by Lin's bedside.

Izumi bowed low before looking straight into Suyin's eyes.

"What's happened? Why the change?" Suyin asked.

"Your majesty, I regret to inform you that your son, Huan Beifong is now a fugitive to the Fire Nation. In absentee he has been found guilty of attempted murder of Miyoko Lee by bloodbending-" Izumi informed the Earth Queen.

"This is RIDICULOUS! My son is GOOD!" Suyin yelled, leaping off of Lin's bed to attack Izumi. Tadashi rose a boulder with one hand and a blade with the other, ready to spear through the Earth Queen at the slightest hint of danger to the Fire Lord.

"You thought the same thing about Junior and now where is he?" Izumi replied.

"There must have been a misunderstanding!" Suyin yelled. Hiryur hauled the Fire Lord of the floor, heavy ceremonial armor and all and then stepped back.

"My daughter drops dead in an empty hall with him bent over her body. I saw his face and after Sunako and Huifan had Yoko breathing again, he was gone. He had a mission, he failed it and now he has fled off the face of the world-"

"I want to hear his side of the story!"

"And you will, IF you help me find him," Izumi replied.

"Why should I help you find him? So you can incarcerate him?"

"So he can stand trial before an international tribunal while you're still here to get him a lawyer. If you leave him here and we find him, there will be no trial and you may never see the boy again.

Suyin sighed. "What do I need to do?"

Izumi looked around. "I need scribes. Ones I can trust to record everyone's responses during the interrogation,. Bataar can help too."

"Why don't you just have members of your League do it?" Suyin asked bitterly.

"Because I can only be certain of the loyalty of about two of my members right now," Izumi said glancing at Masaru. "And one of them is rather preoccupied for the time being," Izumi said turning to where Sunako was helping Kya roll Miyoko to make sure she didn't get bed sores while she healed.

Against a wall of the Golden Galley, just beyond the main atrium, Tetsuya stood with his back against the wall beside his brother. "Will you be okay?" Tatsuya asked his twin.

Tetsuya watched Izumi return to the throne room with Suyin, Baatar, and Huifan.

"Wait!" Lin called throwing the red sheet off of her bed, and sitting up abruptly. "I don't want Fa-ni witnessing whatever the hell you're going to do to those people."

"Mom, I am twenty-four years old. I can handle watching a little light torture, especially if it is necessary," Huifan replied.

"Honey, you can barely even stand. Please-" Tenzin begged, trying to hold her back.

Lin raised her hand, twisted her wrist, and bent her daughter by the metal belt and wrist guards she wore to the opposite side of the room. Then, she propped herself up with an earthen walker.

"I don't need to stand to use my truth seeing abilities. I just need a bare foot on the floor," Lin replied, hobbling weakly over to Izumi, Baatar, and the Earth Queen.

* * *

Xiaoyu woke on a bench in a carriage. She still had all her clothes and she didn't feel any different, so she assumed no one had violated her, at least not too badly. Still, for an instant she panicked before quickly regaining control of her emotions, heart, and breathing.

"Was there a reason you sedated me?" She asked Kohaku who sat across from her, with his legs crossed, looking more calm and collected than ever. There was a sense of pride about him. He had just succeeded in one of the most difficult missions ever given to him even though he broke protocol several times. That surely wouldn't matter now though, at least not to his superiors.

"For security purposes only. As you know, anyone can string together fancy words, but they could mean nothing. Until we are certain of your loyalty, we cannot disclose the location of the Academy," Kohaku replied.

"Fair enough," Xiaoyu replied, mirroring his posture in an effort to appear more relaxed than she really was.

Was there a reason you so suddenly decided to join our cause after expressing a desire to never see me again, Xiaoyi?" Kohaku asked with a smirk.

"I finally came to my senses, you could say. I couldn't stay. You're right about it all. They just held me back, trying to protect me from nothing. They're hypocrites telling us to do our best, be our best, and then they never let us leave because the world is too dangerous. How can you learn if all you know is familiarity? I had to get out, to be free and give others the opportunity to experience such freedom. I want to learn and master lightning bending and firebending. I want to reach my full potential and my greatest strength. I want to help the children rise against the older generations. Their fear of what could be has only hindered the progress we could enact and advances we could make." Xiaoyu lied in a manner she hoped was convincing.

Kohaku's grin widened, showing the girl that he had believed every word. "Excellent, Xiaoyu. If what you say about how you feel is true, then I think you will do well at the Academy. There, all others are like you. They all agree and believe the same thing. The era of four elements and four nations is over. They understand that it is time to break down the borders and shatter this illusion of separation. It is time to show the world that we are all capable of greatness together and that we are connected to everything including each other."

"Sir, we're here," the carriage driver said opening the door for them.

"Come, Xiaoyi," Kohaku said taking the airbender's hand gently. They were by another boiling lake surrounded by tree-covered mountains and various rock formations. Kohaku led Xiaoyu to the mouth of a cave where they came unto a heavy platinum door.

"Password?" the doorkeeper asked.

"Sabekhain," Kohaku answered.

The door unclicked and swung open. "A new recruit?" the doorkeeper asked, eyeing Xiaoyu. She smiled demurely at him.

"Yes. I've brought her to learn our ways."

"You're sure she can be trusted?"

"She's more fit for the Rogue League than you," Kohaku replied with a playful smirk, leading Xiaoyu into the dark network of tunnels in the mountain, past training rooms with firebenders, waterbenders, and earthbenders all wearing the same black uniforms that covered everything except their eyes and their hands.

"I know you must be excited, but don't feel the need to jump into class quite yet. First you need to get a uniform, and then allow your eyes to adjust to the light," Kohaku explained.

Xiaoyu looked up at the lightbulbs that hung on wires that lined the tunnels. "But why would I need to adjust when there is still light?" Xiaoyu asked curiously.

"Because the lights will go off randomly when there is still so much left in the day, to force all of the earthbenders to hone their seismic sense to help their comrades."

"There are other earthbenders that know seismic sense?" I thought my grandmother-"

"Kept it in the family? She didn't decide to hoard the skill until she gave birth to your mother. But before that, whole schools learned the skill in its most basic form."

"Huh, interesting," Xiaoyu nodded.

"Anyways, here, we've reached the wardrobe room. This is Nika. She will get you fitted with new clothes."

"Thank you, Kohaku," the woman said, bowing.

"Thank you. Now if you excuse me, our leader will be very pleased to hear about you finally join our league," Kohaku exclaimed.

Xiaoyu did not wait for him to go before turning to the person manning the wardrobe room. Xiaoyu looked up at the eyes of the figure in the dim light. "You're Nika?"

"I am. Now if you will please remove what you have, I will get you a new suit," Nika asked.

Xiaoyu didn't ask any questions now. She didn't like disrobing in the open room with the door to the hall nonexistent, but if she were to fool them, had to display her willingness to do anything.

Nika returned quickly with a pair of black pants, boots, and black shirt that opened and overlapped in the front.

"Tie it at the neck, under the arm, at the rib and waist here, right over left ," Nika instructed as Xiaoyu shoved her arms through the loose sleeves.

"Like a corpse on a funeral?" Xiaoyu asked more curiously than anything.

"Exactly."

"Why?"

"Because like the supposed separation of the elements, we believe that time is an illusion and so is death. We are the people that the world does not believe exist. We are as good as dead to those who live on the surface. We have been neglected for generations and spoonfed nothing but limitations. But we are powerful and the time has come for us to show ourselves."

"Why have you trained in the shadows until now?"

"Because history has shown that people don't react well to what they don't understand. They won't like us which is why we have waited until we can predict, with absolute certainty, our success in the fight to come."

"And when do you think that will be?"

"Soon. Very soon. Rumor is that you're one of the last three the leaders have targeted to join our cause," Nika said, her demeanor smacking of self importance. Xiaoyu pretended that she was flattered, and meekly bobbed her head in turn.

Her innocent demeanor, however, belied the cogs in her head that were already turning. If she is one of the last three, then who were the two others? Were they already here, or had they yet to be convinced.

* * *

Iyuan was sincere. He answered all of the standard questions the way he was supposed to and then came the secrets that Izumi would try to break with her dark lightning.

"There is a quarter of this Palace rumored to be completely guardless. Name a way to get in," Izumi ordered.

"There is no such thing," Iyuan replied looking up into Izumi's eyes from where he knelt on the granite floors of the Granite chamber.

"He's lying," Lin whispered to Suyin.

"He is supposed to." Izumi said normally. "Iyuan, there is a quarter of this palace rumored to be completely guardless. Name a way to get in and we can move on to the next man."

"There is no such thing," Iyuan replied.

Izumi walked around behind him and reached out a hand to the back of his neck.

As soon as the tip of a finger made contact, Iyuan started screaming. Suyin and Bataar both jumped in their seats, Lin frowned, but Izumi, remained unchanging. She held him by the neck and administered the lightning, counting to sixty three times in her head before releasing his neck. Iyuan fell to the ground in a heap, panting. His energy had been drained and his entire sensory system overloaded with pain.

"What in spirits' name is she doing?" Suyin asked her sister.

"What she thinks is necessary," Lin replied.

Izumi knelt down behind the man who lay in a heap, curled up and shaking. "There is a quarter in this palace rumored to be completely guardless. Name a way to get in and the pain can end," She whispered in his ear.

"There… is… no… such… thing…" Iyuan replied breathlessly.

Izumi turned him onto his stomach and then pressed her hand flat against his back. Suyin covered her ears. "How many times does she have to do this?"

"However many times it takes to-"

Iyuan mumbled something. Izumi bent down to hear. "He's clear to go." She said, standing. Suyin made a note and watched as two guards came in to haul him out a back door.

"Is he okay?"

"He'll be fine in about an hour— Genkei, bring in Mizoriko," Izumi ordered.

Clear.

* * *

After being shown to her new sleeping quarters and given a set of texts by the Avatar Aang and Guru Pathik, and General Iroh of the Fire Nation, it was time for lunch. The canteen was a massive hall packed to the brim with more "shadows" Xiaoyu decided to call them since they all looked dark, black/grey, and the same.

As she walked trying to find a seat, she heard someone call out "Hey NEWBIE!"

She almost wanted to ignore the caller when someone grabbed her wrist.

"Sit with us," the stranger said, sliding over to make room for the airbender.

"How can you tell that I am new?" Xiaoyu asked.

"Your amber eyes. They're still so bright-so full of love and life," the first person who called her name said, sitting across from her.

Xiaoyu studied what she could see of him through his hood and his mask. His eyes were green, like her mother's, with a hint of gold around the rims. Perhaps he too had a mixed heritage.

"And yours aren't?" Xiaoyu asked curiously.

"Nah! They beat that passion out of me in the beginning."

"What?" Xiaoyu asked, slightly more startled than she should have been.

"Don't scare the newbie!" the young man's masked comrade scolded, elbowing her friend on the shoulder playfully.

"What?" The young man shrugged. "She should know what she's in her for. She was foolish to come willingly."

"Hush up about that! You don't want to get killed with the other dissenters!" the friend hissed.

"Killed? I thought this was where people came to free themselves from limitations, and learn to master the full extent of their abilities," Xiaoyu replied slowly.

"Who fed you that load of pigeon scrap? This place is a training ground for an army no more merciful than the Dai Li! Trust me! I was one of them before they negotiated a trade for me. My handler in Ba Sing Se said the Amber League payed four million bahn for me!" the man whispered confidentially, leaning across the table.

"Why didn't you fight them if you didn't want to come?" Xiaoyu asked.

The young man laughed. "Trust me, I tried. But no training the Dai Li could EVER provide can prepare one for a fight against three loyalists from the Fire Nation's Amber League."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Xiaoyu asked suspiciously, wondering if anyone could be trusted in a place like this.

"Yeah, why ARE you telling her all of this, Nikita?" the girl sitting next to the young man hissed.

"Because I don't want her to get brainwashed like the rest of the newbies they captured last year," Nikita replied.

"How long have they been capturing people?"

"A decade at least, give or take a couple experiments and breaks," Nikita shrugged, taking a sip from a goblet of water.

"And how long have you been here? What element are you leaning?"

"I came in five years ago, I think. It is hard to tell how the time passes with no sunlight. They've decided I have the potential to bend air, but so far, all I've been able to blow was my candle and my side hoe here-" the young man said, nudging the girl sitting next to him.

"NIKITA!" She shoved him off the bench.

"Why don't the earthbenders tunnel out?" Xiaoyu asked.

"Because they can't without getting caught and taken back again. The League has convinced a member of the prestigious Beifong Family to share their secrets of seismic sense. They teach it to the most loyal, the most willing to torture and torment," the stranger who first dragged Xiaoyu onto that bench explained.

Xiaoyu held her breath. _WHO?! It couldn't be Hungjian or Jin or Huifan! Wing? Wei? They would never betray aunt Suyin. Then… that only leaves… Huan…_

Xiaoyu thought back to that week before Mom's wedding when Huan helped Huifan build their mother's dress. She did mention he seemed a bit off and even more quiet than he already was. Then back at the palace, he never did show up to meals or any other family activities. The only time that Xiaoyu did see him, he was he was watching everyone interact from the shadows.

A set of sharp fingers locking around her arm pulled Xiaoyu out of her thoughts and back into the cave where the shadows trained for something. Her heart stopped for an instant.

"I apologize for startling you," Kohaku said smoothly, appearing behind her. "I was just wondering if you would like to share with the group your reasons for volunteering yourself for our cause, Xiaoyu. I am sure everyone would like to hear from you, a Yeshe, and a Beifong."

A granddaughter of the Avatar and the greatest earthbender that ever lived. Xiaoyu wanted to prove that she was worthy of her lineage. That she could continue to follow in her grandparents' footsteps, break the chain of tradition and do whatever else it takes to help keep the world safe.

"I would love to," she replied, standing and following Kohaku to the front of the room.

"You can take off your mask if you'd like, but just for the presentation. Just start with it on."

"Okay."

One of the leaders rang a gong and the dining hall fell silent. Kohaku stood Xiaoyu on the center of the stage then took a few paces back falling in line with his comrades.

"Hello everyone. My name is Yeshe Xiaoyu, daughter of Lin Beifong and Tenzin Yeshe, Granddaughter to Toph, Satoru, Aang and Katara, and I have come to join you in the quest to liberate the world from those who impose limitations on human potential. A wise man once told my grandfather that the greatest illusion that exists is the illusion of separation. Those we love are never lost. Those who die are never gone, and those we think are different from us are all one. We are all connected to each other, living and breathing together with the ability to overcome any boundary or border and truly connect to ourselves and other societies. We must gain mastery of ourselves and then work together to advance society and spread our teachings so that all can reach their highest potential. Only then will we find peace in existing," xiaoyu said feigning confidence in what she was saying. The crowd of students gave her thundering applause and support.

"Thank you, Miss Xiaoyu! Now Master Keiji give the general announcements!" Kohaku said dismissing Xiaoyu from the stage.

"What in Oma's cave was that?" Nikita asked

"Complete bullshit," Xiaoyu gasped sitting down again.

"Tell me about it!"

"See this is the problem with the Amber League. They've swayed so far from their founder's philosophy that nobody, not even those in positions of leadership know what the hell they're doing or why the hell they're there. It's just tradition."

"The very thing that they are trying to get rid of."

* * *

They went through the palace staff quickly and easily without torture. Izumi's glare was enough to have them spill every secret they had: every secret affair and guilty habit.

Then one butler. "I served tea to the twins Tetsuya and Tatsuya. The Earth Queen's sons, Huan, Wing, and Wei also joined them."

"Do you remember the contents of their conversation?" Izumi asked.

"Parts of it. It seemed pretty mundane to me," the man shrugged.

"Any information pertaining to them no matter how mundane is vital to this investigation," Izumi informed the butler.

He thought for a few moments. "One of the twins I think-Wei, was it?-was mildly infatuated by the twins."

Suyin felt conflicted, torn between laughing at the one son flirting with a cousin before learning their relation but at the same time, crying that another son was a prime suspect in this investigation.

"Let me help you remember," Izumi said, touching a hand to either side of his head.

"Did Huan say anything during the encounter or was the entire exchange between the twins?" Izumi asked, knowing the second eldest child of the Earth Queen was a quiet one.

"He said first… 'Can you elaborate?'" the butler said.

"In response to what?" Izumi asked.

"Tetsuya's claim that 'what they [he and Tatsuya] share in physical likeness, [they] lack in the similarity of personalities'," the butler answered. "To which Huan asked, 'can you elaborate?'"

"And what did the twins tell him?"

"Tetsuya claims to have 'inherited mother's brains' and told their Earth Kingdom Cousins that Tatsuya 'inherited her strength'. The twins were intrigued. Then Huan added that Tetsuya also inherited 'Azula's fourteen-year-old arrogance,'..." the butler continued.

"So Huan knew the twins before all this," Izumi thought.

"You don't know that, Izumi. Maybe it was just his assessment based on your twins' way of speaking during that initial meeting.

"You're a quiet one, aren't you, Huan?" Tatsuya asked turning to the earthbender with the green bangs.

"What's there to say? You already know everything about us-" Huan shrugged dully.

"It is just casual conversation. Don't you want to get to know us?" Tatsuya asked feigning hurt.

"I was earth King for a week. Do you really think that in that time I wouldn't have placed a couple Dai Li agents under my command?" Huan asked blasé.

Tetsuya and Tatsuya were both smiling while Huan couldn't look more disinterested.

"You're a wise man, Huan," Tetsuya said, raising his teacup.

"Thank you for sharing, Mr. Niro," Izumi said, releasing his head.

"It is always a pleasure serving my Lord. I hope you can find what or who you are looking for," the butler said.

"I need a break," Izumi decided after Niro had left.

"Izumi," Suyin followed Izumi through a concealed door that nobody noticed before since it was flush with the wall.

"If the Rogue League is working WITH the Dai Li through Huan-"

"Which is highly unlikely."

"Su- when was the last time you even spoken to ANY of your staff?"

"A few weeks ago?"

"UGH!"

"What?! This is vacation!"

"You're SUPPOSED to be a queen. You can't just completely abandon your nation for vacation! Even Iroh and Takeo check in on their armies daily and they're generals!"

"Well that's because they're Fire Nation," Suyin replied.

The door opened and Masaru rushed in, grabbing Izumi's face, kissing her impatiently.

"Genkei said you needed a break. Are you okay? I can continue with the members of the League if you want to stick with Palace Staff," Masaru offered compassionately.

"I'm fine. It was a member of the Palace Staff that overheard Huan making a comment about when he was Earth King during the last Siege of Republic City, he placed a fraction of the Dai Li under his command."

"If he has been using them and working with the Rogue League, they could do anything," Masaru said stepping back. "This is bad."

"Why do you both have to be so morbid?" Suyin asked.

"Forgive us for caring about our nation and our family!" Masaru snapped.

"You call this caring about family?"

"Su, if you don't agree, then leave. Only justice can bring peace," Izumi echoed the words of Avatar Kyoshi.

"If I go, I'll come back with an army," Suyin threatened.

"Then do it. If it is true, that Huan has some of your dai Li under his command, it would be only too easy for him to be the true ruler of the Earth Kingdom from the shadows."

Masaru took over the interrogation of some of the league members while Izumi stood between Lin and Suyin, watching.

* * *

Xiaoyu was a natural. She split fire easily but couldn't seem to generate it. She always returned lightning which fortunately for her, not many people were able to generate or even redirect. She was undefeated in the sparring ring. Every time she fought she just thought about trying to escape.

"Are her eyes dimming?" the instructor asked his assistant.

"No. She is a defiant young one," the assistant replied.

"Naturally," the instructor replied approaching the new recruit.

Xiaoyu looked up. Her clothes had soaked through with sweat and her mask was wet.

The instructor grabbed her by the chin and tilted her head up further, examining her eyes.

"They're a pretty shade of Amber. Maybe we shouldn't dim them. In time, she can become the new face of the League," the instructure mused. "Now go, fight Ocean-Eyes over there next.

"Please, go easy on me, I'm not very good," the blue-eyed water tribe boy cried.

Xiaoyu smiled, before realizing he couldn't see her mouth under the mask. She settled into her lightning stance and struck the wall behind him, just beside his head. He flinched.

"Foolish girl," the instructor yelled striking the water-tribe boy square in the chest then turning her attention to Xiaoyu. "We haven't the room for the weak or the merciful. This the Rogue League! We must be just as deadly if we're to survive every evening!" the instructor yelled slapping the airbender, knocking her to the ground.

* * *

Hiryur. Clear. Tadashi. Clear. Rinuk. Clear. Fenjing Clear.

"Unako?" Izumi asked.

"My Lord, he has ignored the summoning. We don't know where he is," the palace guard informed Izumi.

"Missing with his master. Figures," Izumi muttered. "Then bring in Daisuke."

Daisuke entered the Granite Chamber and knelt before Masaru Lee. He answered all the standard questions with ease, then they reached the testing questions made specifically for Members of the League.

"There is a rumor that a class one fugitive from the last war was released by the former Fire Lady. What was her name?" Masaru asked. The member of the League is supposed to say "There was no such thing."

"Wait!" Daisuke yelled, raising his hands, breaking protocol. Izumi frowned. "Good sir. I- If I tell you what I know of my charges, will you promise to kill me?" Daisuke asked.

"You do not make demands of your leading officer," Masaru said.

"Then I will not speak," Daisuke replied.

Masaru stepped behind Daisuke and moved his hand to the League Member's neck.

"I'll kill him afterwards," Izumi said, stepping forward, stopping Masaru.

"They ask me to assist them with cover ups. They have me clean up after their various scuffles. Sometimes they ask me go for them," the man divulged.

"Go where?" Masaru asked.

"Random homes, I think," Daisuke replied.

"And you dared to listen?" Masaru asked incredulously.

"What were their instructions?" Izumi asked.

"Always the same: 'Take the child, kill the parents, let there be no bloodshed,'..." Daisuke answered dutifully.

"And why do you wait until now to speak?" Izumi asked.

"For the longest time, I was convinced you wouldn't believe me. Taemon and Tetsuya were so confident that your love for them would cloud their judgement. And they were right. There was no way out. If I spoke against them, I feared you would dismiss me, just like how you dismissed Sunako…" Daisuke said.

"Spirits!" Izumi cursed running her fingers through her hair. "Bring in Tetsu!"

"My Lord, wait! If it isn't too out of place, I must recommend you finish the interrogations before confronting Tetsuya on my claims."

"How do we know you're not just buying him more time to execute whatever he is planning?!" Masaru asked raising his hand again, ready to strike again.

"Because I don't know his plans for those children!" Daisuke replied sharply, turning his head to face Masaru, breaking protocol again. "You're both wasting your precious time and energy with your traditional methods, Mr. Lee." He turned to Izumi. "Be swift with the extraction. Invade the minds of the members of the League. It is the only way since you've trained us all too well on how to lie," Daisuke said standing. Masaru and Izumi both raised their hands to Daisuke. Izumi moved to block Suyin, Lin and Baatar.

"You weren't given permission to stand, Dai," Masaru replied.

"I know," Daisuke said pointing two fingers on each hand to the ground and blasting the granite apart. Suyin kicked her foot up under the table where she sat raising an earthen wall between Izumi and Daisuke shielding them. Masaru blocked with a shield of the fire of life, Lin cleared the dust only to find the Twins' wayward handler gone.

* * *

"I've done exactly as you said, now we need to go!" Daisuke said to Tetsuya in the shadows of the Golden Galley.

"There have been a change of plans. You go ahead to the Academy. We have to wait until Yoko wakes—," Tetsuya said, looking over at his littlest sister in the hospital bed, Sunako by her side.

"Good luck," Daisuke said quickly before fleeing.

"Why haven't they sounded the alarms now that Dai's defected?" Tatsuya asked his brother.

"They're trying to be discreet," Tetsu replied calmly.

"Wouldn't it be better to leave this place in chaos-"

"Not necessarily. Just wait, dear brother. Patience is key." Tetsuya replied.

Tatsuya slumped to the floor and blew a loose strand of hair away from his face and picked at some dirt under his nails and looked away. Tetsuya remained standing, his back straight as the wall against which he stood, his gaze unchanging, and arms folded, waiting.

"Sunako," the palace guard called.

 _ **Ursa, Huifan, will you stay with her?**_ Sunako asked.

"Sure thing," they said, flanking the young lady's bed.

Sunako went with the palace guards.

Tetsuya waited until the waterbender was gone before approaching Yoko's bed.

"Excuse me, Ursa, Huifan, but may I have a word with my dear sister?" Tetsuya asked politely.

They both eyed him suspiciously, then stepped aside.

Tetsuya sat for a few moments, counting the seconds that passed, mentally going through the protocol his parents would use to interrogate Sunako. They would ask her no questions. They would simply make her hurt until her parchment fell, and her body became too weak to bend a drop of water. He slid a his hand under Miyoko's neck and touched the base of her head and mapped. Her entire nervous system with dark lightning. He noted the energy flow and signaling. She was very much alive. Very conscious and waiting… She was a very good little liar, convincing everyone she was still injured. Tetsuya bent down to her ear.

"Dear Yoko, I know you can hear. Our time to rise is drawing near. At the earliest opportunity you get, join us, and together we will free our mother and so many others from the unjust bounds of tradition." Tetsuya whispered. He sat up again and looked down at her peaceful head. Nothing changed. Her breathing remained steady and not a single muscle in her body responded.

"Will she be okay?" Ursa asked Tetsuya.

The man turned to his half sister, the Princess who was born three years after him. "She'll be more than okay. Her strength when she returns will be unrivaled. I am certain of it." He said gazing down at her.

"Tetsuya," the palace guard called.

"You get interrogated with the members of the Amber League? Not the Family?" Huifan asked.

"I am a level ten, if you've forgotten. And Members of the League are far more dangerous than family, even if the family members are extremely powerful direct descendants of Avatar Aang," Tetsuya said to Huifan and Ursa before going with the palace guards. He was brought to the Throne room where all of the cleared league members were standing by waiting to defend their Lord and their Master. The cleared palace staff had been released to continue their regular routines, and Tetsuya knew the Granite Chamber had been destroyed. He glanced quickly at Sunako whose parchment was already floating again.

"Fire Lord Izumi," Tetsuya bowed to Izumi who stood on her throne behind a wall of blue flames. "Mr. Masaru Lee," He bowed to his father who stood on the same level as him off the dais of their nation's sovereign.

Off to the side, Aunt Lin, Aunt Suyin, and Uncle Baatar sat, Suyin and her husband both with quills in hand ready to start recording.

Tetsuya took a deep breath and slowed his breathing and knelt, feeling the earth with his hand, reaching for the heart beat of Lin Beifong. The former chief of Police could tell something was off about him, and he could measure her unease.

"State your name lineage back three generations and titles,"

"I am Tetsuya Lee. I was born in the Fire Nation Capital City. Son of Fire Lord Izumi Hatsuharu Ido and Masaru Lee. Grandson of Fire Lord Zuko Azinashuro Ido, Fire Lady Mai Minagawa, Toph Beifong, and Satoru Lee, great grandson of Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Ursa, Governor Ukano, Lady Michi, businessman Lao, and Lady Poppy, Lieutenant Chu and Lady Ta-Ming Lai. I am a Level 10 manager in the archival department of the League's census division."

His heart was strange. It didn't exactly flutter but it wasn't steady either. It was unnaturally calm, slow, as if he were dead or dying.

"Fire Lord Izumi, may I have a moment to bring Huifan in?" Lin interrupted. They waited for the eldest daughter to situate herself by her mother.

"Listen," Lin whispered to her eldest daughter. Huifan frowned, sensing the same unnatural beat.

"May we continue?" Izumi asked.

Lin nodded.

"Where were you yesterday evening between the hours of 18h00 and 21h00?" Masaru asked.

"In my study making final preparations to answer a call I was supposed to attend today before the Palace was put on lockdown and everyone ordered to stay," Tetsuya answered.

"Aunt Su, do you—" Huifan asked.

"Feel nothing from him?" Suyin finished.

They finished the standard questions and then began the test.

"There is a rumor that our sovereign has birthed several bastards," Masaru began slowly. "Can you give one of them… a name?"

"There is no such thing," Tetsuya replied, looking up into his father's eyes. Izumi's narrowed.

Masaru stepped behind his son and lifted his hand to the man's neck. "There is a rumor that our sovereign has birthed several bastards," Masaru repeated slowly. "Can you give one of them a name?"

Tetsuya looked into his mother's eyes since protocol didn't allow him to turn his head during the test. "There is no such thing."

"He has no heartbeat," Huifan breathed. "Just like Taemon, who is missing!"

"Very perceptive, Cousin. Very Perceptive indeed," Tetsuya said laughing, standing. Masaru raised a hand to the back of his son's neck.

"There is no use interrogating him! He can say anything and NOTHING will change! He's guilty but by his level of comfort, he isn't the leader. His secrets are still safe with somebody and he knows even if he is locked away, the original projects he has been working on will continue to progress as if there were never any interruption in the first place!"

"How can you tell?" Suyin asked.

"Because she can read me. She too is just as capable of great light and great darkness, and because she has already been fed some of our philosophy, through Taemon," Tetsuya replied smiling.

"Have him transferred to the tundra! Tell Eska and Desna to construct the greatest security cell they have ever envisioned and that I'll reimburse them two times over for all of their troubles. I'm sure they'll enjoy the exercise immensely," Izumi ordered.

"No, he's prepared for it-" Huifan said reading the grin on Taemon's face with worry. "If anything, the bottom of the ocean will be better. The cold and darkness will smother the light of his inner flame."

 _I have trained them too well and now they have beaten me,_ Izumi thought of Taemon and Tetsu, with a tear threatening to piece through her shield of strength. "For now, subdue him," Izumi ordered.

Masaru charged up a paralyzing hand of dark lightning but just as he grabbed his son's neck, the boy discharged it, grabbed his father's arm and neck and lurched forward, hurling the elder over his shoulder and into the ground. Masaru rolled and at the same time, he and Izumi shot lightning towards their son.

Tetsuya rolled towards the Beifong Sisters, Huan and Baatar, who threw the table aside so his wife could help his sister-in-law and niece defend.

All elements except air converged on Tetsuya with lethal intent. He couldn't block them all with fire, so he lifted both fists instead and an earthen cylinder rose out of the throne room floor and shattered when hit with the bending of a hundred men.

Lin cleared the dust and Huifan dropped the pillar to find no one where the son of the Fire Lord stood only moments before.

* * *

Tatsuya has moved on from picking his fingernails to picking his toes when he felt an arm loop around his neck and pull him back. He almost yelled but a hand covered his mouth and the wall he had been leaning against swung around.

"Brother!" Tetsu hissed. "It's just me. We have to leave. Huifan found me out before Yoko could wake and fight beside me. We need to get somewhere safe. Are you ready?"

"Always," Tatsuya replied, smiling. The entire palace shook. "What the—"

"Move already!" Tetsuya yelled grabbing his brother's hand, yanking him to his feet. They ran.

* * *

"FIND THEM by whatever means necessary! We can rebuild this piece of shit if needed!" Izumi commanded from her throne.

The whole sections of the roofs were torn off and some walls, collapsed. Other, longer walls were striped, with sections sent into the ground by the earthbenders of the league so that nobody needed to find a door to go through to proceed with the search.

The Amber League split into teams each with one bender of every element and a weapons master.

* * *

Tetsu and Tatsu turned down a hallway and saw the walls on both sides of them start to tremble. Cracks ran from the ground to the ceiling and then the sections fell away.

"HERE!" One earthbender yelled.

Tetsuya slapped a metal cuff from the earthbender's own arm over his mouth then raised a stone and kicked it into his stomach. Tatsuya turned to the other side of the wall and kicked fire towards the three men there trying to interfere with their escape.

"There's no time for games, Tatsu—NOW!" Tetsuya yelled.

Tatsuya raised both hands and all six Amber League agent's froze in place. He lowered them down gently and held their jaws in place so they couldn't speak or scream.

"Can I kill them, brother?" Tatsu asked.

"If you feel it is needed," Tetsu replied looking at one League member he trained with in the beginning.

With a flick of the wrist, the blood burst from their veins that connected the body to the head and they were dead. "Let there be no bloodshed." He said before he and his brother fled.

* * *

After a long day of sparring with some mild abuse thrown in, Xiaoyu was finally dismissed to return to her sleeping quarters when the lights were shut out. She turned around, blind in the absolute darkness that existed six hundred feet underground. She heard a stone door being slid open by an earthbender and then a familiar voice. "Focus. Listen to the earth breathing. Feel for even the tiniest movement- the tiniest shift in the dirt- the faintest heart beat and the slightest lurch. Use all all of the senses in your entire to hear and those in your feet to see," Huan instructed his latest batch of pupils.

By the volume of air moved by their breathing, Xiaoyu could tell that he didn't have many, and by the rate of their breathing, she could tell that they were just as terrified as she. If she confronted Huan, it was very likely they wouldn't intervene.

"What or who can you see?" Huan asked flatly, as if he were bored with teaching.

No! Don't confront him now, Xiaoyi! You will blow everything, you have to be smart about this. Wait! Find out first where you are then plan an escape. Fight him another day when you have Jiexue and Fa Ni and Mami beside you. Although, if you can follow him, maybe he will lead you to the answers you seek.

Xiaoyu decided to follow her stray cousin to see if he would meet with or talk to anybody. She used her airbending to practically float above the ground and followed. The pair of lungs pushing and pulling the air around him.

She began to sweat from the sustained bending, but she still would not give up.

She almost ran into a couple of walls and began sending out little puffs to feel how far barriers were by measuring the time it took for them to come back. She followed him to an empty room.

Then she felt metal strips wrap around her ankles and wrists and ground her on all fours. A stone door slid shut with an echoing thud.

"Frankly, I always thought you were smarter, Xiaoyu. Though exceedingly faint, I could hear your breathing the entire time. A word of advice, your little air sonar does not help your stealth. Why didn't you just go to sleep?"

"Because… I needed to know where we are...what you are," Xiaoyu replied, panting from the solid hour of sustained airbending.

"I think you can answer that yourself," Huan replied, standing above her in the dark, seeing her very clearly with his feet.

"A traitor-"

"A savior," He corrected her.

"How dare you betray our family!" Xiaoyu asked, deciding there was no point holding back now that her cover was blown and her true loyalties known.

"Betray our family? Our family betrayed the world by withholding invaluable information, that the world has a right to know, for their own! Knowledge is power, and hiding it makes one no different than a censoring, oppressive tyrant. I can't see how you're still so proud to be a Beifong or a Yeshe! You're a disgrace to humanity to support those that only enforce outdated limitations."

Xiaoyu blasted him back a few yards with one deep breath and broke free of the metal that bound her to the ground as soon as he broke concentration.

She blindly made an air sphere and slammed him against the wall and then the ceiling, listening for where he could be. He landed and got her location with seismic sense again and sent a metal strip her way. She could barely feel the air the fine blade pushed until it was already practically upon her. She changed its trajectory with a wave of her hand and a bend of the air current and then dove away.

"Stop trying, Xiaoyu! You're not trained in how to deal with shadows. You're weak, too trusting, and you will fall alongside the rest of our family!" Huan yelled sending a flurry of blades her way. She made an air sphere to try to send them all away, but one made it through, and one was all it took, to cut through her.

She felt her breath go and a searing pain surge through her before her body went into shock and cut off the feeling of the metal blade in her lungs, narrowly missing her rib and heart. She couldn't breathe. Her heart went into overdrive. She was losing blood… quickly…

"You- monster…" Xiaoyu croaked.

"Am I the monster, or you for staying with our family who slays anyone and anything that might remotely pose a threat to its iron grip on the world?"

Xiaoyu grimaced.

* * *

They did roll call like a school teacher had to just to make sure nobody else had gone missing. And that was how Lin discovered her youngest daughter was missing.

"According to Masaru, she left a letter," Izumi said, frowning at her fiance.

"A letter which I got from Jinora," Masaru replied, pulling it out of his breast pocket.

 _Dearest sisters,_

 _I am sorry you have to find out this way, but I'm leaving. Mom and Aunt Su and everybody has always encouraged us to reach our highest potential in bending, and I feel like now more than ever, I need to uncover the secrets of the connection we have to the other elements. I promise I'll come back, eventually, but until then, keep each other safe, please._

 _Your loving sister,_

 _Xiaoyi Han Yeshe_

"And when were you going to tell me?"

"When she came back. Jinora wanted us to buy her some time," Izumi replied.

"Where is Jinora?" Lin growled, her patience thinning with every second that passed.

"Uncle Saru! I think I found Xiaoyi!" Jinora blurted out as she came running down the hall, sliding into Masaru's stomach after rounding the corner, unable to stop very efficiently on the polished floors.

"That's excellent!" Masaru exclaimed.

"Found, what do you mean found? Was she ever lost?" Lin asked, gazing down at one of her husband's children from Pema.

Jinora didn't respond but slid behind Masaru's leg.

Lin turned to her brother and her former best friend.

"She's joined the Rogue League," Izumi answered.

"And how long were you going to wait to tell me?" Lin asked, too far in shock to even react.

"Jinora seemed to be under the impression that Xiaoyi had a plan. Jinora?" Izumi asked, deflecting Lin's attention to the child.

"Can the explanation wait? I think she's dying," Jinora requested, still hiding behind Masaru.

Lin's own heart stopped for a moment. She came to the Fire Nation for a wedding. First she found out her brother fucked her best friend and had a whole family together in secret. Then she got tied up in some mysterious child-trafficking investigation. In her absence, two of her daughters started dating, she got shot full of dark lightning by one of her daughter's dates, and now that daughter has followed that sick bastard and joined this mysterious Rogue Cult thing.

* * *

 **A/N** _The next chapter, is the title chapter:_ **The Fire Lord's Flames.** _Get ready._


	51. 2,21 The Fire Lord's Flames

_**A/N** *breathes* I hope you are ready. Here goes the title chapter. (If you automatically jump to the end from the browse page), go back one chapter just to make sure you got everything :))  
_

* * *

 _ **The wise stand back from the fire, fools are burned on the pyre; The mystic becomes one with the flame, the embers and he are the same.[2]**_

* * *

 **Chapter 21: The Fire Lord's Flames**

* * *

They decided Izumi, Suyin, Kya, Huifan, and Jinora would go in the first wave to search for Xiaoyu. They had to be quick and discreet to extract the teen before she bled to death and going in a large group would have made being discrete impossible.

Huifan, and Suyin were both in armor, Kya in her normal dress, Jinora in her wingsuit, and Izumi stuck in her ceremonial robes. Masaru offered to go in her stead, but she threatened to explode and blow up what remained of the royal palace after the failed search for Tetsu and Tatsu. Eighteen members of the amber league had been found dead with a burst jugular vein in the sides of their necks with no other bodily harm. Death by bloodbending, something Izumi had hoped never to see.

"You keep the family safe. Take them to the estate. Genkei and Tadashi can keep the remainder of the palace standing until we return. Be safe and constantly monitor Yoko," Izumi reminded him.

"I will!" Masaru said touching his head to hers, holding her arms tightly. "And should you face our boys again, remember: power comes not from strength, but restraint. Remember our lessons."

"Always," Izumi whispered. He kissed her and they departed on Jinora's sky bison, Pepper. Tenzin almost refused to let Jinora join them, but then Lin reminded him that Jinora was the only one who had a chance at finding Xiaoyu since she could use spiritual projection to traverse stone walls without a physical body.

"Aunt Zumi, I know we haven't really talked, but-are you alright?" Huifan asked, concerned about her aunt. The woman looked exhausted, as if she had lived another lifetime in a matter of hours.

"I will be once we have your sister back in one piece," Izumi replied, leaning against the saddle, sitting as far as she could from everybody else.

"Are you cold?" Kya asked, sliding over and snaking an arm over Izumi's shoulders. Izumi said nothing as they flew.

"You're comfortable in the sky," Suyin commented. "Did you fly often on Druk?"

"No, Father never allowed it," Izumi replied. _But I had a dragon of my own, but now she's-_

"You have to turn back! It's too dangerous!" Xiaoyu's voice cried before her spirit transpired before them in the sky.

She was dressed differently, clutching her side which was stained dark.

"Your spirit! It's bleeding!" Jinora gasped at the apparition.

"It is not bleeding," the seventeen year old airbender cried. "I am. You must listen. Do NOT come, Huan can bend earth and water. He is the one who bloodbent Yoko. And Tetsu is fire and earth and Tatsu fire and water. They've all crossed over and convinced hundreds to join them. You don't stand a chance! Rumor is it that their leader can bend everything, even every subelement. It's not safe. I'll be fine. I am not afraid of dying," Xiaoyu 's spirit whispered weakly. "Tell mother I love her, and tell Fire Lord Izumi that I'm sorry, I couldn't make it right. I failed, as a niece and a member of our great family."

"XIAOYI NO!" Jinora and Huifan both screamed as her spirit faded away.

Izumi clutched her heart. It was all her fault that the girl felt the need to prove herself in the first place. She doubled over, sick to her stomach with regret, a migraine pounding against her head.

"It's not your fault," Kya said, rubbing Izumi's back as she tried to cry but couldn't.

"Is it just me, but that didn't sound like Xiaoyu," Suyin thought aloud.

"Huh?" both Huifan and Jinora turned.

"Just the way she spoke. Her choice of words… She would love everybody, not just her mother, and she wouldn't single out Izumi no matter what has been happening lately. It just isn't like Xiaoyi…"

"You don't understand. If Kohaku was able to do what he did to Lin with dark lightning, I would not be surprised if he has been inside her head," Izumi panted, wanting to vomit her regrets.

* * *

Xiaoyu gasped for air then curled up tighter clutching her own body as she lay on the floor in a pool of her own blood.

"Welcome back," Taemon said, standing over her with a hand outstretched.

"Congratulations. You've projected your spirit for the first time," Tetsuya smiled.

"You're officially an airbending master," Tatsuya added.

"Masters don't exist, remember, Brother?" Taemon reminded them. "No one can ever truly be a master when there is so much left to learn." Taemon earthbent a seat for himself while the twins stood behind him.

Xiaoyu squeezed her eyes shut.

"How were their faces?" Taemon asked, leaning forward, perching his elbows on his knees, looking down at the airbender.

"Terrified," Xiaoyu whispered.

"And when they saw you?" Taemon asked.

"Jinora and Huifan- they wanted to cry. Aunt Kya and Su didn't know what to think or do…" Xiaoyu hiccuped and then winced, clutching her semi-healed wound.

"And our mother-" Tetsuya asked.

"Ready to die," Xiaoyu replied.

"Do you think they will turn back after your warning?" Taemon asked the teen.

"No," Xiaoyu replied, shaking with the memory of pain blaring in her mind.

"Good," Taemon replied, standing again, earthbending his seat back flush with the ground.

Tatsuya was almost about to kick the girl when Taemon ordered him to leave her alone. "She needs enough energy to beg her own family for a merciful death," Taemon explained as they went to check the last minute battle preparations and regiment formations.

* * *

"Watch my body. I will find her," Jinora asked her aunts and her sister.

"Be careful, Jinora," Huifan asked, tethering Jinora to Pepper's saddle as she intertwined her fingers to meditate in the lotus position.

After a few minutes, Jinora's spirit returned. "It will be easiest if you follow me in this form. Can someone carry me?" Jinora asked.

"She's in a room in the mountain in a maze of tunnels and caves," Jinora said, leading the Bison down. Huifan strapped her little sister to her back with a bunch of cables and they began walking through the trees.

"I can feel the tunnels," Huifan said.

"There's too many for them to be made naturally by the volcanoes," Suyin added.

"Which means they're probably filled with earthbenders," Kya said.

"But there are no detectable heartbeats. If anyone's down there," Huifan looked up.

"They're shadows," someone whispered. Huifan turned and punched a man dressed in black in the face.

"It's an ambush!" Suyin yelled, slapping blindfolds over their eyes. She attacked another only to have the metal returned. Izumi charged up lightning and faced several coming towards her and shot all of them, roasting them alive.

"How many?" Huifan asked.

"At least a dozen," Kya said, looking at the carnage.

"All dressed in black," Suyin noted.

"With their shirts folded right over left," Izumi said with a distant gaze. "As if they were already dead while they were still living."

"Jinora!" Huifan yelled.

Suyin slapped one of her metal strips over her niece's mouth. "Zip it! Do you want more to come?!"

"What happened?" Jinora asked, peeking her head out of the ground. "Spirits!" Her eyes went wide when she saw the jagged earth and the carnage that remained after the ambush.

"They were ready for us," Izumi answered.

"We have to hurry. Can you not go too far ahead next time?" Huifan asked.

"Sure thing. Dig here," Jinora instructed them. Suyin and Huifan stood side-by-side and sunk a tunnel a dozen feet deep in one motion.

* * *

"I'll take Yoko," Rikuto offered, scooping his little sister into his arms as they began to move.

"Into the secret tunnel," Takeo said, leading them to the secret courtyard in Azula's Quarter that concealed the entrance to the passage their mother took that lead directly to the Earthen Fire Estate in the city, three miles away.

"Sunako," Masaru called as the waterbender watched the eartbender carry her former charge away.

 _ **Yes Sir?**_

"I just- wanted to thank you. For everything you've done for our nation and our family," Masaru said awkwardly.

 _ **You speak as if my watch has ended. Are you dismissing me from the Amber League? I know I have been breaking protocol a lot as of late, but I assure you, I still have the nation's best interests at heart!**_

"Sunako, I know. I am thanking you because your watch _has_ ended. I don't want you to be a guard anymore. I- come with us to the estate not as a guard but as family. Genkei and Tadashi can handle the keep."

 _ **But—**_

"If not for the family, then for Yoko,"

 _ **Yes, Sir**_ , Sunako said, following the family into the tunnel. Masaru, Lin and Tenzin were the last to he'd into the tunnel.

"Have you enough strength to close it or should I get one of your sons?" Masaru asked, shouldering Lin with Tenzin.

"Collapsing things is easy. Goes with gravity. It's lifting that's hard in times like these," Lin said as they made their descent, collapsing the tunnel behind them.

"Hey! I can't see a thing!" Meelo said, walking and holding Rohan's hand.

"Oh no! What a nightmare!" Wing exclaimed teasingly, trying to keep the mood light for their young cousins.

Masaru opened his hand and lit a flame. "Better?" He asked.

"Thank you, Uncle Saru," Meelo said.

Masaru dropped his hand and left the flame suspended in mid air.

"Why don't you boys run ahead with your cousins. The flame will follow," Masaru suggested with a warm smile that put the children at ease.

"Wait! It can do that?" Meelo asked.

"But we're not firebenders! We can't sustain it!" Wing exclaimed.

"I can. Go. It will reach," Masaru said, waving his hand. The flame went ahead.

"I bet you can't catch it," Masaru whispered. The boys took one look at him and took off running down the dark tunnel after the red flame and Masaru lit a second for Tenzin since Lin could navigate with her feet.

"You know, Saru. I still don't understand how you and Izumi ever came to be," Lin said quietly as they walked. "When we first met, you wreaked havoc on my island. Made the children all love you so easily. You set my living room on fire showing off the Dancing Dragon indoors! I thought you were all chill, but if you were, then how'd you deal with Izumi when she gets a little… crazy?"

"I don't 'deal with her'. I love her," Masaru clarified. "She needs someone to remind her that she is still a human worth loving, and that's my job in our relationship."

"Then what's hers? I know we were best friends once, but if these are her true colors under pressure-forgive me for being blunt but she just seems like a chore."

Masaru sighed. "And she is sometimes, but she is what the nation needed after Zuko. Zuko appeased the other countries. Dismantled the military and reformed the social structure slightly but the New Ozai society remained. The people saw him as weak. Believed he was a puppet of the Earth King Kuei and Avatar Aang. Izumi was pure fire. Zuko and Mai wanted her to be perfectly loyal to her nation and her family, and to be the one to officially redeem the honor of our people after a century of dominion. She would be the first in generations to have no blood on her hands. She would be the good one. The perfect one. I saw the pressure from our teachers and her parents begin to form cracks in her very being, but the real Izumi remained. She was as resilient as earth, passionate as fire, fluid as water, and and I admired her. She wanted change. She stood up to the Fire Sages, she stood up to her former husband and she stood up against the belligerents who wanted to reclaim the United Republic as a colony and crushed them before they even reached the shores of their own island to storm yours.

"I saw so much potential in her, and I loved her for who she was and decided I'd do anything to protect her for the sake of the nation. The New Ozai Society, the extreme progressives would have led us into civil war before turning their eyes on the former colonies and starting another century of war." Masaru finished. "She told Lady Mai she wanted to marry me when we were ten. Again when we were fourteen, sixteen and eighteen. She asked Azula to teach her how to lie so she could have an affair with me, but I refused to oblige. I wouldn't risk her reputation during such a sensitive time when she was engaged to Hisoki. I guess I am partly to blame for her current state of madness. I deprived her of myself thinking that she'd be better with that asshole because the Fire Sages said so. And I made her go back to the palace."

"So when did you start having babies. You must have started when you were young, considering Takeo isn't much younger than Iroh."

"We were twenty three. She came back from the Si Wong Desert after a year long search for Hisoki and needed to birth another heir. Our parents were desperate and she would not accept anybody except me-she threatened to reduce the nation to ash if they didn't accept. Well, not explicitly, but I could see fire in her eyes. It is hard to explain the change that happened that year she spent searcheding. But I vowed that I would live to see the day when Zumiya would come out again. I know she's in there… hibernating…" Masaru replied.

The tunnel began to slope upward again.

"We're here," Masaru said, pushing open the gate and emerging in a courtyard.

"Father! Remember this was where Iroh first taught us the dragon dance and we learned Kuto was an earthbender!" Takeo yelled pointing at a spot on the ground.

"And this was where I disarmed Uncle Sokka for the FIRST TIME EVER!" Sasuke yelled.

"I can't believe it has been only eight years since we've been home and yet it feels like a lifetime has passed in that palace," Rikuto sighed nostalgically as he ran his hand along the wall.

Masaru smiled at his oldest three sons, missing the other three dearly.

"Where did you put Yoko?" Masaru asked his sons.

"In her old room," Rikuto replied.

"Is Sunako still with her?"

"And Ursa," Rikuto replied.

 _Good._ He turned to Lin. "Let's find you a guest room. You are still recovering from what Kohaku did to you. Out of all of us, you need rest the most."

* * *

They followed Jinora's spirit through the tunnels to an open room void of any furniture or markings. The only thing in it was a pool of blood in the center of the floor.

"She was here!" I know it," Jinora said. "I can still feel her here."

"I can feel her heart beat now," Huifan said, turning around.

"But it feels like it's everywhere." Suyin added.

"That is because she IS everywhere… And so are we," Taemon's voice echoed throughout the chamber. The group went back to back and Jinora's spirit returned to its body so she could fight.

"Huifan, let me down!" Jinora called. The cables released the girl and they all stood around with their backs together, looking around.

Just then the door slammed shut and the walls collapsed and they were surrounded by more men dressed in all black with only their eyes shining in Izumi's fire light.

 _More of these fucking ghosts of the Rogue League?!_ Huifan thought as she tried to attack. Fire and earth came right at them, then a wave of water.

"There's too many!" Kya yelled as she and Huifan both took hold of the blood in their bodies, stilling them to give Izumi, Suyin and Jinora a break from defense.

"Can you bend earth and water at the same time?" Kya asked.

"No." Huifan replied.

"Do you know how to render one unconscious with bending?"

"Never tried. Never wanted to bloodbend again at the time." Huifan replied with shaking arms.

"Well you're going to have to try again. I'll walk you through it. It is the only way," Kya replied.

"Whatever you're planning, hurry!" Izumi growled through gritted teeth. Kya whispered in Huifan's ear and with a simultaneous push and pull, the prodigious young earthbender and her waterbending aunt subdued all of their assailants. She and her other aunt Su, then broke through the ceiling and lifted themselves out of the dark, empty room into daylight again. After their eyes adjusted, they realized they were surrounded below by an army of benders dressed in black.

"You guys have to get back," Izumi said.

"We're not leaving without you or Xiaoyu," Huifan argued.

"Don't argue, Huifan, I used to tie your shoes when I visited the Beifong Estate!" Izumi hissed.

"Dearest… Fire Lord… Izumi…" a smooth voice droned from across the grassy meadow and glassy the lake in the mountainous terrain of that Fire Island.

"Taemon!" Izumi growled, whirling around. They emerged on an earthen platform out of the center of the lake, Tatsuya bending the water around them effortlessly as if he had been bending water since he was an infant or something. More platforms with more of their soldiers emerged. "This is your last chance to stand down."

"Now why would I do that when defeating you hear would be too easy?" Taemon asked with w wicked grin that made Huifan want to scream. "You should be proud of what we've created and how resourceful we've been. It is incredible what one can achieve once one stops believing that he or she can only ever been one thing that their parents tell them to be. You should take your own advice sometimes, My Lord."

"He's baiting you, Zumi," Kya said, grabbing Izumi's wrist.

"They're coming closer- closing in," Suyin informed them.

"Of course I am baiting you. It was only too easy," Taemon confessed. He stomped on the ground and it spat Xiaoyu out, unconscious and bleeding.

"Xiaoyi!" Huifan leapt off their earthen platform and into the crowd, launching at least three dozen of Taemon's disciples into the air and away from her so she could run towards the form of her sister.

"Fa-Ni!" Suyin yelled, going after her. Tatsu jumped off his platform.

"You place far too much value in your family, when you should have concerned yourself more with the world." Taemon directed at Izumi. "You claim to be a freedom fighter, a champion of peace, but all you've done was oppress your populace into compliance using your beloved Amber League. With so many decades blindly following your orders, they have become numb- subhumans incapable of independent thought. Well, we've and set them free and together, we will set the rest of the world free from your tyranny."

"How can you possibly speak of freedom while you force them underground to train. Chain them for weeks without seeing the light of day?" Izumi challenged.

"You've done the same," replied the young man calmly. "We too know we must make sacrifices for the good of the masses. Face it, Fire Lord Izumi, your time is done. Your methods are outdated. You're philosophy is archaic. You're too slow and too afraid to accept what the future has in store for the Fire Nation. We will be stronger than any one has ever seen for we are no longer restricted to just being one thing!"

"You bastard," Huifan Huifan yelled, jumping over izumi, landing on the ground creating a fissure, a series of jagged rocks and an avalanche launching Taemon sixty feet into the air. Several of his acolytes attacked Huifan but she blocked them effortlessly with walls of earth and tried to flatten them, but they were covered by their earthbenders who smashed the walls to dirt. Taemon practically floated down.

Izumi looked around at Taemon's 'Army' gathered around. They were listening intently to the exchange, and their loyalty wavering. There were strength in numbers, sure, but that only held true when your enemy can be intimidated and your numbers still had faith. But when your soldiers are afraid… and ready to flee…

"I TRUSTED YOU! I trusted you with my heart and this whole time you were just playing me, trying to get me to cross over and join your Rogue Army?" Huifan asked, hurt.

"Guilty as charged. Honestly, dear, I thought you were smarter," Taemon replied, smirking.

"You're a traitor!" Huifan yelled, tears streaming down her face as the ground began to quake beneath her, sending some of Termon's 'soldiers' on the edges of the army, seizing the opportunity to flee.

"A savior. Your whole life you were told you could only be an earthbender, a metalbender. You were told it was impossible to bend platinum but you found a way. You were told blood was for waterbenders but you found a way. Your family has done nothing but place limitations and unreasonable expectations on you. They're hypocrites, and we've no longer any use for them or anyone over the age of fifty."

"Taemon, Hear me one last time," Izumi said warningly. "Every generation has believed the exact same thing, and every generation has been proven wrong by their parents. Stop this madness!"

"Why would I stop now that I am so close to reaching my goals? You raised us to stand up and right for what was right regardless of the sacrifice we must make. We could have so much power we could be such a great nation if you just stood up!"

"You want power? Is that it? You want the same thing that corrupted my aunt, my grandfather, great grandfather and great great grandfather beyond repair? You want the power that nearly DESTROYED our nation. That nearly DESTROYED THE WORLD? You think the adults are limiting? Well let me tell you something. My whole life I held back, for my reputation as princess. For my family, for my country! I held my tongue when foreign nations demanded I apologize for the crimes of my ancestors. I held back sparring against my children because I didn't want to discourage them. I didn't want YOU to feel what my father felt sparing his parents. I didn't want you to feel inept and worthless! In that, I have succeeded. But instead of not feeling worthless, you've become FAR too arrogant. You're about as self absorbed and confident as grandfather Ozai. Maybe I SHOULD unleash my full power on you! Maybe I SHOULD show YOU what I'm capable of! Maybe it will humble you!" Izumi mused.

"DO IT!" Taemon yelled.

"Suyin, Fa- Ni, get back," Izumi called. "This is my fight."

"But my sister," Huifan said.

"Have her," Taemon shrugged, stomping his foot into the ground with his hands behind his back, launching Xiaoyu into the air.

Huifan screamed. Kya bent a water tentacle to snatch the girl in the air and lower her gently onto their platform, to a place behind Izumi.

"Fa-Ni, back NOW!" Izumi yelled, making a pulling motion with her hand, summoning Huifan to her side by the metal in her armor.

"You can metal bend too?" Huifan asked, in shock at what just happened.

"Not Metal. Just the lightning to generate an artificial magnetic field. If you accept that true masters don't exist, and continue your studies, you too could find out what is true connectedness," Izumi explained, not once taking her eyes off of her wayward sons. She saw Huifan safely behind her and leapt off her platform, flying into the air with blue fire out of her feet and rained flames down on Taemon, Tetsu, and Tetsuya.

"I think it's time we pruned our family tree of the parasites that have infected it; what say you, Tetsu?" Tatsuya asked his twin with an ethereal sense of ease about him.

"Brother, I've been thinking the same thing," Tetsuya replied, reveling in their opportunity to execute the mission that they had spent a over a decade planning.

The three split the ring of fire, then Taemon and Tatsu bent streams of water after her. She danced, evading them and various attacks from their soldiers with ease.

Suyin earthbent steps for Izumi where she predicted the Fire Lord may land.

"Higher," Izumi yelled.

Suyin launched her up and she somersaulted through the air blasting fire down on them with such a force that they had to leap off of their platform and jump into the crowd as their platform was obliterated beneath the pressure and heat.

"You think you're so enlightened but you couldn't be more ignorant!" Izumi informed her astray children. "You don't need multiple elements. What you need is curiosity and open mindedness. There are two types of people in the world. Those who THINK they are masters. And those who are scientists. The scientists know mastery doesn't exists. They know no matter how much you train, no matter how much you learn, you could NEVER scratch the surface of all there is to know about our world. I was never trying to be restrictive, only realistic! You're dabbling in things you will never be able to understand fully with your current mentality. I'll show you true fire and true connection to all of the elements!"

Izumi landed on their battered platform and thrust her palms forward creating a blast of fire with three separate paths all twisting through the air like a waterbender could do with a stream. But fire typically only ran one track. How—

The three brothers dove as a large portion of their army dispersed to give them space, but not a single soldier came to their aid, excep…

"Stand down, Fire Lord Izumi," Huan ordered, holding Kya, Jinora, Xiaoyu, Huifan in the Air by their necks.

"But you didn't bother binding your mother?" Tatsuya asked, walking over to Suyin. With a sadistic grin.

"Need I remind you she's the Earth Queen? Even if she acts like an undefined commoner. The public surrender from both of them could benefit us greatly," Huan replied stone-faced, dyed green and black hair covering half his face.

Suyin cliched her heart. She was crying. A second son fallen from grace.

Izumi wanted to roll her eyes at the sheer ridiculousness of the Earth Queen's situation. _Why cry? I lost three sons in a day and you lost two over time with periods to adjust the void they left behind in their mother's heart._ Zumi put her fists together.

"I said STAND DOWN!" Huan yelled.

Izumi raised her hands in surrender. As she knelt, she tilted one palm to the sky not taking her eyes off of Huan and the boys. And when the second knee touched down, she fired. Rainbow fire shot up towards the sky and blue fire towards her three sons, one nephew, two sisters, and three nieces. Consuming all of them.

There were screams not just from her family but from the soldiers down below. So they haven't been broken like true members of the Amber League who wouldn't have flinched at the sight of someone possibly being burned alive.

When the smoke had cleared, her boys had been throne back. Huan was slightly singed on the arm and the side but was fine and the rest of the family unscathed.

Jinora was hyperventilating though. Xiaoyu has come to and pulled her favorite sister into her arms as Kya and Huifan stood over them, protectively looking at Izumi. The woman had just shot a face full of blue fire at them, and yet they incurred no burns and felt nothing but warmth. How was that possible?

Izumi was panting. Her robes were sweaty and uncomfortable. Her fury grew and her inner flame became unstable. Her hair streaked blue, flashed then faded to grey again.

Huan looked up, his face uncharacteristically contorted with fury.

"Think about touching them again and it won't just be harmless heat lapping at your body!" Izumi threatened, raising her hands again.

He backed away, but still didn't surrender.

"Let it out, Mother! Show us that _monster_ you harbor in your very being. Yes, we know about your inner fire and how it is what really rules this country. It has destroyed all that was pure and good in you, all that Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai strived to make. Let it out! Let it fight for you. You're weak and can't win without it!" Tetsuya tried to order his mother.

"I think your army men may disagree," Izumi said as some moved to hide behind Izumi now.

* * *

"That's the signal," Masaru said, hearing the thunder after the lightning. He looked out the window and saw the rainbow flames in the distance.

"It's where they are?" Lin asked.

"Yes. May I extend the offer to the older children?"

"Just not Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan," Tenzin asked.

"Of course. I agree that they're too young," Masaru said. He ran downstairs gathering the children in the courtyard.

"If you would like to fight, by all means come, but know that we still need some of you to stay, and protect the family," Masaru said.

"I will fight," Jiexue said, stepping up.

"Same," Ursa added.

"Our mother needs us; we're in," Wing and Wei joined.

"Let's go! Those long haired bastards won't know what hit 'em!" Rikuto exclaimed throwing his arms over Takeo and Sasuke.

"Actually, I'll stay," Sasuke said, removing his older brother's arm from his shoulders.

"Same. I can keep the kids distracted from what is happening," Jinkun informed them.

"I'll come, Uncle," Hungjian said quietly with one hand already on the handle of one of his hammers.

"We can take Sam and Juicy," Opal said, pulling out her bison whistle.

"Wait!" Miyoko yelled running out with Sunako following closely behind. "Let me fly ahead father! Please!"

"Yoko you nearly died! I am not going to let you fight!" Masaru said, holding her wrists.

"I was only asking as a courtesy to make you feel better about me going, but I've made up my mind. You cannot stop me," Miyoko replied, releasing her wrists from his large hands. She turned and blasted green fire out of her feet and fists and took off towards the sky.

"Why didn't you stop her?" Masaru bellowed at Sunako.

 _ **I tried. But she is ever her mother's daughter, with her will, strength and restraint. She knows what she is doing. She has known for a long time.**_

—

 _ **J**_

"YOKO! You should be home resting!" Izumi shrieked.

"Quiet, Mother, before you give yourself a nose bleed." Yoko muttered, bending an Earthen platform for herself to stand above all others. Taemon, Tetsu, and Tatsu smiled. "Brothers, sisters! Hear me speak. I too am a crossover sent to infiltrate the house of the Fire Lord. And in that I have succeeded!" There were cheers from a large part of the crowd. "My handler, Tetsuya Lee inspired me to join this cause, this fight for freedom! He fed me tales of the magnificent world we could create if we rose up against the old and allowed ourselves to be reborn into a free world!" Spoken like a true politician, Izumi thought of her dissident of a daughter. Her sons were beaming. "But those are all lies. Taemon Yamakatsu and Tetsuya Lee do not believe in freedom. They do not seeks not freedom but power. Their minds our bound shut buy this skewed sense of duty and obligation to free what was never not free in the first place.

"Most of you were taken from your homes as children and seared down to what they claim is your raw potential. You serve because you are afraid of their bending. They do nothing but intimidate, and when that doesn't work, they maim or murder their enemies. My own guard when I was twelve years old, Taemon Yamakatsu ordered killed if she would not allow them to take me from my bed that night, but when she couldn't be killed he ordered her silenced. He had his henchmen brutally lop off both hands and gorge her tongue out, singing the flesh closed, melting the open wounds.

"Their orders were the same in every one of _**your**_ cases. Kill the parents. Take the child. Let there be no bloodshed. You ALL remember it. You will find no protection if you serve Taemon Yamakatsu.

"But you will find protection under Fire Lord Izumi. Think of your childhood. Your parents you've been torn away from. Think of their grief when you go to school and how they must feel after years without a scrap of news! Now think if you had a child; would you like them to die on this very battlefield today? If you ever wondered how much Taemon Yamakatsu valued your life just look at what you're wearing. If he cared, he wouldn't have dressed you as if you ALREADY had one foot in the grave. Now stand down, or you won't walk away from today."

"The Fire Lord doesn't care about our lives!" One soldier had the audacity to say. Miyoko turned to him, her long dark hair and long red skirt swirling around her.

"Really? Then why, though you're so intent on killing her and I'm sure you've tried, has she ignored you? She can destroy anyone she wants in a heartbeat and still be the Fire Lord, but she hasn't. She has ignored you. Gone straight for your leaders because she knows you are not responsible for this insanity. No one would be foolish enough to challenge her on his or her own accord!"

There were murmurs and motions. Some people stopped fighting and some tried to move away.

There was a grumble and a roar from the pair of skybison as they passed overhead, their riders leaping from the saddle in a grand entrance. The ground cracked with the landing of each earthbender, the grass scorched by that of each fire bender, and the crowd split when Jiexue cleared space for herself with her glider.

Masaru came last and looked up at Miyoko standing above everybody. What had she done?

"Acolytes, don't mind the bloodshed. FIGHT FOR WHAT IS RIGHT!" Taemon yelled. Only a fraction obeyed, but that fraction was enough to send the field into chaos. Some of the Rogue League speared through their own former training mates in a desperate attempt to get to the members of the family they were fighting.

It was maddening to Izumi. She couldn't focus on anything. Her eyes were split trying to keep track of all of her children. She could monitor three easily, especially when they were all fighting her at the same time, but now, there were too many. Her need to protect them all, became debilitating, and she fell to her knees, covering her ears tying in vain to drown them all out. She reached for their nervous system. She reached to feel for their senses. Their brains. Their signalling. She didn't need contact to use her dark lightning anymore. She understood everything was connected. She had understood for a while. It is only with the heart that one sees rightly. What is essential is blind to the eye…[1]

"Zumi-" Masaru ran towards her, but but Taemon blocked his way, smashing a crater into the earth with an air sphere. Masaru shielded his eyes from the dust and wind that pelted his face mercilessly. Taemon snatched up the fragments and compressed them into stones to fill his avatar sphere, ignoring his foster father's presence, then he flew to the lake in the mountains where they were and added water. And finally he added a ring of fire. Masaru couldn't believe his eyes. That little orphan boy managed to unlock all of his chakras, tap into all of the elements, and fly. No glowing eyes. Nothing. All he was doing was on his own accord.

Izumi's fire kept flashing through her hair, ready to burst.

"Zumi," Masaru's hair turned red and one of his dragons slithered from the tip of his hand, through the crowd to the Fire Lord. It looked up at her, full with hope and touched its nose to her forehead as she crouched down, fighting her own demons. "You're ready to let go. Trust yourself," it said.

Taemon looked over to Izumi and spotted the dragon. What in spirits name- He searched the crowd then saw Masaru standing there with his eyes focused on the Fire Lord, a scowl accentuating his sharp features. His hair, burning redder than Izumi's was blue when she raged. _NO! He can do it too?_ The dragon vanished and Masaru's hair returned to its normal color.

Izumi stood up and turned to Taemon in the avatar sphere. She flung her arms over her head and yanked off her ceremonial armor then pulled the cord off from around her waist and shed her robes. She bent forward and using lightning, sliced the laces of her corset clean off and shrugged that off as well, leaving only her bindings. She looked up to the sky and flew, blasting herself up into the air. She turned as she rose, generating fire in all colors. It was the fire of life that the dragons showed all of those they deemed worthy of learning some of the secrets of bending. She made her own protective sphere out of the flames and then broke open a hole for her face and pointed two fingers at Taemon's, shooting lightning and fire simultaneously shooting fire and lightning from the same hand, another feat never before done by a firebender.

Taemon flew away to evade the strike and the lightning and fire vaporized a noticeable volume of water from the lake, striking the lake floor with such a force that it shook the entire fire Island, bringing whole sections of the army and the family to fall from the shaking.

Izumi added lightning to her rainbow fire making it appear like a burning hairball of sorts spat out by a dragon cat as she pursued Taemon into the sky.

"Answer me seriously, Taemon," she said after they stopped a good distance away from the heat of the battle. "Why make such a half-ass attempt to bend the other elements when you could truly master fire instead?"

"Answer me, Fire Lord Izumi. Why refrain from unleashing your fire on your enemies? Why drag this on? You could be so much stronger if you weren't so afraid, of empowering your the citizens of your country. The nation could be so much stronger. But you don't want a formidable nation, do you? You just want a placid one that you can control. Power is wasted on you!"

"That is where your understanding is lacking. The Fire Nation is NOT weak and there is nothing wrong with peace and prosperity. Power does not come from one's strength but his restraint." Izumi bent her rainbow fire shield off of herself and enclosed Taemon's avatar sphere, shrinking it until he could no longer sustain it. The stones he collected fell from the sky, the water he bent vaporized. When Izumi was sure shed smothered the ring of flames he maintained inside, she flew into the shield at full speed, grabbing his body out of the sky and flying at full speed back to the battlefield where everyone could see. She slammed him into the earth so hard she created another crater and then rolled to the side as he got up with an uneasy groan and a bruise on his spine.

"How can you speak of strength in restraint when you torture your subjects just to test their loyalty?" Taemon asked.

Izumi drew a breath and charged at Taemon, reaching him too fast for him to bend anything and delivered a back kick to his jaw. He sent a hook to her face, but she blocked it with her forearm. He ducked to avoid another kick to his head and swept her feet out from under her. She landed on her hands and sprung back, landing upright again like a gymnast. She twisted to avoid another leg, another fist then dove under his stance and planted a hand on his back and sent electricity coursing through his body. He screamed as he pain overwhelmed his senses and slumped to the ground.

She faced Taemon, the palm of her right hand open and aimed at the ground. "You're right. Why draw this out? I'm tired Taemon, and you are not my enemy. You are my son, so I will give you options. I can kill you now through the ground or through the air. I don't need contact or bending for either. I can control the charge on every node of every nervous cell in your body. I can force every muscle fiber to contract or relax on a whim. I can do anything I wanted to do to you from here, and halt your sensory nerves from letting you feel a thing. Or, I could make you hurt. Which would you prefer?" Izumi asked with an open hand. "I may not be an earthbender with seismic sense, but with that, I can sense your presence. If you truly understood the the interconnectedness of the elements, then you would have seen that I can do more than anybody on this planet. You would have never challenged me."

Izumi lifted her hand to strike Taemon but fell still. Both Tetsuya and Tatsuya had lifted a hand towards her, Tatsuya trying to bend the blood right out of her body, trying to tear her veins, to kill her. Tetsuya had struck her with lightning. At the same time, the two attacks had stilled her, and Taemon's hand had tried to bloodbend her back. Izumi grunted from the pain.

 _How is she holding herself in?_ Tatsuya thought, unable to break her veins.

Izumi's hair turned blue as she remained unable to move. She strained, and then a spark flickered on the tip of her finger. Her eyes reached it and it left and entered the ground. At once, the four of them began screaming. The twins and Taemon both fell to their knees, a strange purple lightning bursting out of the ground to cause them pain and overwhelm their senses.

"If you are still not convinced how USELESS this all is…if you truly want to see the extent of my power, I will grant you a viewing!" Izumi said as she dropped to one knee and planted a hand on the ground. A pulse of heat hit everybody, knocking down friends and foes alike like dominoes. Tatsuya tried to strike again with a stream of water or bloodbending but another pulse vaporized the water and distorted the chi he channeled to take control of the blood in his mother's body.

The ground turned red as it became superheated by the Fire Lord's inner flames. Red flames erupted from her hand and the ground around her. As it became hotter, it turned yellow, then green, then white, then blue, engulfing her body. She opened her eyes in concentration, staring down at her hand She blinked away a tear as she concentrated. Taemon, Tetsu, and Tatsu tried again to strike her through her fire, but their water, fire and earth all disintegrated before even coming close to her body. Another pulse of heat knocked them off their feet again. People began moving away, shielding their eyes from the rising light. Izumi's hair came alight with the flames and flew away from her face. She held her position.

Taemon tried to shoot her with lightning, but it simply became absorbed by the flames, amplified, and shot towards the sky in an unbelievably beautiful but terrifying display. Soon the flames were licking the edge of the clearing, boiling the lake and lapping at the branches of the trees. But the trees did not catch flame. Why?

 _The wise stand back from the fire, fools are burned on the pyre; The mystic becomes one with the flame, the embers and he are the same[2]._ Izumi recited to herself. She looked up at Taemon, then glanced sideways at her twin sons. How many chances should she give? As a Fire Lord, none to these traitors, but as a mother, more than they deserve. The stern concentration on her face gave way to sadness as she looked back to Taemon. "This… is your last chance…" she mouthed, her heart breaking.

And at once, the three glanced to each other and moved to strike her. The Fire Lord's Flames absorbed their attacks and roared higher. Izumi stood, and so did it, taking the shape of her, towering over the mountain peak, glaring down upon the battlefield at the mortals below.

"I don't understand! Is it a spirit?" Jiexue asked, gaping at it.

"Spirits aren't made of fire," Jinora replied, eyes wide.

"But- she is not bending it," Miyoko gasped, her brows furrowed with incredulity.

"It _is_ her," Takeo thought aloud as the fire smoothed over into the form of a woman.

Tetsuya earthbent a tent to try to pull Izumi into the ground. She didn't even scream. The flaming manifestation of her energy took a knee, plunging its fist into the ground, scooping its- master? - out, lifting her up into the sky, letting the fragments of earth fall to the ground.

"Don't fear it. It won't burn you unless I ask it to," Izumi's voice came through distorted by her inner fire. The giant blue figure stepped forward directly on top of a group of Taemon's 'soldiers', reaching for Tetsu and Tatsuya. The soldiers screamed and braced themselves for death, but none came. They were inside some warm, cloud of energy, looking through a blue haze that was the fire. They looked up at the flames above.

Tetsuya and Tatsuya created protective spheres of their own red fires as they were scooped out of the crowd. "Huifan, can you prepare a platinum cable? To bind them?" Izumi asked, yelling down with her normal voice to her niece below. She nodded and bent both cables out of their cartridges fixed to the belt on her waist. The Fire Lord's flames knelt and dropped the twins in the waiting cables while the world watched in silence. Izumi flew out of the flames and landed on her feet gracefully, walking forward to her immobilized sons. "Tetsuya, Tatsuya. Know that no matter what happens, I will always love you as my sons and that I am sorry that it wasn't enough to satisfy you. You're right, you know. You're right that I need to put my nation first. Though I gave you both life and bending, I need to take both away" Izumi slid one foot forward and planted a hand on both of their heads.

 _To bend another's energy, you own spirit must be unbendable or you will be corrupted and destroyed.[3]_

The twins started screaming, but Izumi did not falter. Taemon tried to save them, but Izumi's inner fire intervened, stepping forward and absorbing the flames and lightning he sent their way.

"Eugh!" Tetsuya groaned as his mother let go.

"You didn't kill us! Why?" Tatsuya asked, crying, terrified, feeling cold for the first time in his life.

"Because you are my sons. You have my blood. You are a part of me and killing you would be like chopping a limb off of my own body," Izumi replied. "And that I can never do". She turned to Taemon.

"Then what will become of him?" Tetsuya asked his brother fearfully as Izumi approached Taemon, her inner fire standing by behind.

Taemon raised a defiant hand and tried to bloodbend her again but she zapped the ground and he screamed rolling over in a desperate attempt to escape the pain that coursed through his veins.

"I would you like to hear a story, Taemon?"

"Is this really the time?"

"it's now or never. When I was sixteen years old, I thought I'd become a Yamakatsu. Not even an Ibonara. Kage was so kind to me, acknowledged that I was more than just a princess. I was a flame. I was a blade. I was a soldier and not just a title or a name. But one day, your beloved father saw me having tea with Masaru at my mother's invitation. He became jealous. Gathered some of his comrades to stalk my best friend on his way home from his secondary school to teach him a lesson. The great Kage Yamakatsu beat and gangraped my best friend, Masaru, left him with a dented head, six fractured ribs a punctured lung, dislocated jaw, broken arm and leg and an ass that had been shredded by dry penetration. He tried to make my beloved believe he wasn't worthy of a Princess."

"Why are you telling me this?" Taemon asked, starting to feel fatigued in the aftermath of the battle, starting to see defeat…

"So you know just how hard it was for me to accept you into my home. Takeo and Masaru both begged me keep you after P'li blew up your mother and father. 'A boy cannot be held accountable for the crimes of his father.' I'll be honest. I wanted to celebrate his death and thank that combustion bender, even pardon her of her crimes for ridding the world of that monster. But you were just a child and I couldn't bring myself to indulge in such celebration of death. I had hoped I could save you from madness. I made extra effort to answer your every question to the best of my ability. Of all of my children, you were most like Saru and me, or so I believed. You were the most curious little thing, the most receptive to our teachings. You never argued but questioned everything we did. You didn't care for gender roles at the time; you were soft, kind and selfless. I thought we had succeeded," Izumi laughed. "I thought we had broken the chain and raised a Yamakatsu as a Lee, but even in death, those words your father wrote in his diary were enough to steer you down this path of strategic cruelty. You're the one who lacks morals, who is weak. Your desire to please the man who used you as a showpiece even in his death is as fruitless as my father's frivolous search for the Avatar in his teens. But despite everything, I have come to love you as a son. Even though your father's perverted nature has managed to corrupt you, I know you're capable of great good and change. I would have listened to anything you had to say about how I run this country just as I listen to Yoko and her little band of dissidents. Tell me, Taemon. Does the boy that I've come to know and love as my own still live within you? Because he, I can forgive for being frightened and misguided by those writings his father left for him in his will. But the madman that kneels before me cannot be shown any mercy for what he's done."

Taemon was crying. He dug his nails into the dirt and pulled the water from the grass. And in an instant, chucked a large rock from the side, towards Izumi's head.

She was too distracted waiting for an answer to react. He inner fire too far to decimate the rock and it hit her head. She fell to the ground, unconscious but still nobody moved except the Fire Lord's Flames. It flew across the clearing, boiling the lake as it passed in an effort to keep Taemon from getting away. It dove past its master and pinned Taemon to the ground by the electricity in his nerves. It touched its index finger of its right hand to Taemon's head and that of its left to his chest. Taemon screamed. The Fire Lord's Flames had gone ahead and taken his bending so he couldn't get away.

It then looked at its host and slumped a little in its magnificent stature, as if sad. It scooped up the Fire Lord's limp form and looked around, searching for something or someone it could trust. Masaru flew up to its level.

"Zumi-" he said.

But the Fire Lord's Flames walked away, through the channel between the islands to the mainland, marched over the villages leaving everyone unscathed until it reached the Earthen Fire Estate.

* * *

Sunako was on the balcony, watching with Tenzin as it approached. It laid Izumi on the balcony at Sunako's feet.

 _ **What am I supposed to do?**_ She asked, looking up at the Fire Lord's Flames.

"Help me," it said.

Sunako turned to Tenzin who shrugged. She bent down.

 _ **She's burning—**_ Sunako wrote to Tenzin. _**Can you get ice or something? Have Lu and Yen help you.**_

Sunako bent water to the Fire Lord's Head only for it to be vaporized. She looked up at the giant flaming figure watching closely, waiting.

 _ **I don't understand!**_ Sunako said. Masaru arrived. He knelt opposite Sunako. _**Sir, What is this?**_ She asked, motioning to the waiting fire. _**What happened?**_

"It was just a rock to the head, I don't know why her inner fire panicked—" Masaru replied.

 _ **Her— inner fire? That's what that is?  
**_  
"It's complicated. I'll cool her down then can you assess the damage, and heal her?" Masaru asked.

Sunako nodded.

Masaru's hair turned as red as Izumi's was blue and he planted both palms on her flat abdomen. Sunako readied more water.

 _ **There's just some bleeding between the scalp and skull. Brain was jostled but not damaged... it should be a quick and easy fix—... there...  
**_  
Masaru felt her head. "She's still not waking."

 _ **But everything— her vitals are fine!**_ Sunako replied, frantically checking again.

"If you are confident her vitals are fine, then don't worry. She is just resting." Sunako eyed Masaru skeptically. He sighed. "Can you watch her? I have to get back to the battlefield— to the others."

 _ **Is the battle over?**_ Sunako asked.

"I hope so," Masaru replied jumping off the balcony, flying back to the war torn island.

The flaming figure bent down and looked at Izumi with its featureless face then it looked down at the ground. Sunako looked too. A crowd had gathered after seeing this behemoth march through the water from across the archipelago and over the mainland without disturbing anything. They touched it and felt warmth without pain. It looked down. Decided there was no more threat, and vanished with the next gust of wind.

Sunako turned to the Fire Lord lying motionless on the balcony. She whimpered and tensed as her hair flared a white blue, then she fell still again. Her hair darkened to a deeper blue but didn't return to grey. Sunako extended a nub towards her body but flinched away. She was still burning.

"She'll be okay," Lin Beifong said, joining Sunako on the balcony. She had brought a length of cable to carry Izumi inside. "Tenzin's readied an ice bath and is soaking some blankets. Lord Zuko says they help accelerate the healing. She'll likely be out for a few days."

 _ **What do we say to the people?**_ Sunako wrote, still looking at the growing crowd forming outside the Earthen Fire Estate.

"Nothing. They can wait," Lin replied. She looped some cables around Izumi's body and without touching the cables, carried Izumi into hers and Masaru's master bedroom at the estate.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_

[1]Antoine Saint-Éxupery, The Little Prince

[2]Tim Hendrick (?), Voltron: Legendary Defender S05E06 White Lion

[3]Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Avatar: The Last Airbender S03E21 Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang

Please. Please. Please. If you you have time. Tell me what you think. I loved writing this (and I am now as exhausted as Izumi and want to sleep for a few weeks), but I want to know if you liked reading it. Happy Friday and have a spectacular weekend!


	52. 2,22 Waking Up

She woke up alone like so many times before with a dull pounding in her head; the memory of her ward crying playing just behind her eyes. Izumi found a freezing blanket saturated with ice water draped over her body. Throwing it off in annoyance, she found that she had been stripped of the remains of her clothing and left naked on her bed. _So I did explode_ , she thought as a lock of dull blue hair fell by her face. It wasn't just a dream. She used her inner fire in battle against her own sons, of all people, and then she took their bending.

 _All I do, I do for the good of the Fire Nation and the good of the world._ Izumi told herself. _They were a threat. Even if they were family, I had to do it, for peace._ She passed her fingers through her dimming hair as she willed herself to calm down. But it didn't last. The flames returned and for the first time ever they burned her hand. _Stop fighting,_ a voice told her. _Give in to the fire. Don't fight who you were meant to be. Become one with the pyre. Everyone has already seen your power and your willingness to use it. There is no point hiding._

Izumi looked down at her bare torso and prodded where her lower ribs normally bruised under the pressure of the corsets. There was nothing there; she must have been out and under those blankets for at least a few days. One thing was certain, however: they had crushed Taemon's rebellion. If he had won, she had no doubt she would have been deposed of almost immediately instead of being allowed to heal safely from the comfort of her room.

Izumi shivered, clutching her burnt hand as she watched the water from the blanket steam off of her burning skin. Who had taken over as regent while she was indisposed? What became of her children, and all those conscripted to Taemon and Tetsu's army? What became of her nieces and nephews who fought by her side to stop their own cousins from watering the fields on the island with the blood of their own family? She had to find out quickly, but jumping back into her former position so soon would prove disastrous for all parties affected by the recent string of events.

Izumi made her way to the washroom where she found the tub of ice water standing with another blanket dunked inside, ready for the next change. She shoved her burned hand into the bath and hissed from the burning sensation provided by freezing cubes.

Her Fire Lord robes were gone, ceremonial armor and all. _Burnt to a crisp, the ashes scattered to the wind_ , she thought as she reached for a new outfit manufactured by her fiance's company. Like Huifan's clothing, it was made from that same tear-proof, flame resistant, and moisture wicking fabric that Masaru developed after the siege of Republic City.

It was a new style for Izumi, one that combined the classical, elegant, long robes that her mother once wore with a more practical, streamlined design that would enable Izumi to fight at a moment's notice. It had the strength of a suit of armor with the weight of a night gown. Izumi wrapped her chest then pulled on a dark, almost purplish red leotard followed by a pair of deep burgundy pants that fit tightly against her legs. She pulled on new boots that came up to her knees.

Next were a pair of leather gauntlets armed with three dozen stilettos and a leather band for her upper arms each with two dozen throwing knives. Lightning and fire had always been her forte, though she preferred to have a few blades handy just in case. Over the blades, she tugged on her coat which was short in the front and long in the back, coming down just past the middle of her calves. It secured around her waist with a single buckle bearing the emblem of the Royal Fire Family.

Izumi trimmed her nails, filed them over and smoothed the rough edges to pass the time until someone came for her. She didn't want to get yelled at for wandering if a healer had ordered her remain on bedrest while she was asleep. She considered sneaking a peek out the window, but she didn't know how many people had seen her inner fire. She had been so focused on Taemon, Tetsuya, and Tatsuya that she barely even noticed anything else that day. She did remembered feeling sick to her stomach the entire time, wondering where she went wrong as a mother, for them to feel so dissatisfied to the point that they believed the world would be better off without the Fire Lord.

She was sitting on the bed, wallowing in regrets with her hands nested in one another on her lap when someone finally came in. Soft, measured footsteps-it could only be Iliana. Izumi looked up at her with an expression of guilt and pain. Without a word, Iliana wrapped her arms around the Fire Lord and embraced her in a bosomful hug. "How are you feeling, little Zumi?" Iliana asked with tears filling the corner of her eyes.

"Tired," Izumi replied, her voice small and weak.

"Naturally," Iliana smiled, petting the Fire Lord's hair as if she were a child. "Your inner fire does that to you. Drain your chi. Kya didn't think you'd wake, but Sunako knew you weren't so easily defeated. Now, let me take a look at you." Iliana released the Fire Lord from the embrace. Iliana cupped her face before lifting both arms up, peering into her sleeves and quickly sweeping her gaze over the rest of the Fire Lord's body. "You do look like you're okay, and your temperature has cooled a bit. You're still warm, but Saru says that's normal." Iliana expressed gratefully. "But what happened to your clothes?" she asked in the slightly condescending tone she used when Izumi was just a young, strong-willed, wily little girl.

"I burned them," Izumi responded, hanging her head and feigning guilt like a child who tossed her vegetables. "Reduced them to ash and let them fly away with the wind. I never want to see anything like them again."

"But do you really think you can appear like this?" Iliana asked, inspecting Izumi's new choice of clothes. Her boots had a small, two inch heel and came up past her knees with a protective steel layer and padding. Her pants were the color of a deep wine and laid snugly against her skin, showing every curve of the Fire Lord's long, slender legs. Her shirt was a slightly lighter shade and was equally form-fitting around her unbound torso, but boasted sleeves that were long and wide enough for three dozen knives and two dozen stilettos. Over it, she wore a slim vest that clasped in the middle of her torso just under her breasts, reminding Iliana of Fire Lady Mai's own choice of clothing.

"For running," Izumi explained, standing and turning to show Iliana the length in the back that resembled a cape from the waist.

"I understand the functionality, my Lord. It just- even though you are completely covered, it shows so much!"

Izumi shrugged and folded one arm over her chest, grasping the opposite elbow nervously. "Everyone has a body. What difference does it make if we show it or not? We've all the same parts."

Iliana smiled and didn't argue. "May I make a confession?"

"Of course," Izumi replied.

"Ever since I started dressing you when you were seven years old, I hated doing it. Every morning, I hated seeing you cry no matter what your mother said, no matter how necessary she made it seem. And I could not be more proud of you for finally breaking free, Little Zumi," Iliana said lifting a hand to Izumi's cheek. The Fire Lord leaned into it and smiled as a tear escaped her eye. "I love you, little Zumi, I hope you know that."

"I do," Izumi replied as they both lowered their hands. "I love you too, Iliana. Thank you for remaining by my side, through everything. For getting me up in the mornings and constantly reminding me that I was still needed by people."

"Thank you for serving," Iliana replied. "Now, you must be hungry, shall we go?"

"How long have I been sleeping?" Izumi asked.

"Only three days."

"And my sons?"

"Awaiting trial in the capital prison."

"Who has become regent in my absence?"

"Your father for the first half of the day and Kei Lo for the latter."

"I didn't know such joint rulership was allowed. I thought the job was a full time gig," Izumi responded, surprised.

Iliana laughed. "No matter how much you've learned, there is still so much you don't know," Iliana sighed.

"You couldn't be more right," Izumi replied, following Iliana directly to the kitchens, fortunately passing no guards.

"Has Saru been by lately?" Izumi asked once she had been seated in the stone dungeon-like kitchens with a bowl of rice and egg, and on the side, a raspberry cream puff pastry, her favorite ever since she was tall enough to reach the dessert table.

"Yes. He visits as often as he can but has been incredibly busy dealing with the displaced crossovers. You'll be pleased to hear that ALL of the missing children have been accounted for during the first sweep of those tunnels the Rogues used," Iliana said, sitting across from Izumi.

"What made you think that would please me?" Izumi asked, not wanting to think about what the children must have endured in training.

"They're no longer missing. Most can go back to their families now. Only some-"

"-don't have families to go back to," Izumi finished for Iliana. She pushed her bowl away and placed her elbows on the table, head in her hands with grief.

"My Lord, if you don't finish your breakfast, I'm going to lock you in your room with it and won't let you out until you've finished. How will you be able to do your duty from in there, Hm?" Iliana threatened.

"I've granted you far too much power over my eating," Izumi growled, taking the bowl back reluctantly.

"I'm leaving Lu and Yen stationed by the entrance to the kitchens if you want to leave before I return. I'm going to tell Saru you've finally risen in case he needs your approval for something," Iliana informed the Fire Lord.

"Thank you, Iliana," Izumi replied gratefully.

"Make sure she eats," Iliana whispered rather loudly to the two guards who used to be captains of the guard at Masaru's Earthen Fire Estate. _What were they doing in the palace?_ Izumi wondered.

Izumi examined their post, her breakfast bowl, then the rest of the kitchen. There was a second exit, the servants exit. It was usually unmanned. She wanted to find out what was going on, but she didn't want to have to talk to anybody or draw attention to herself with escorts. She just wanted to observe. She took off her crown and redid her hair. She tied two braids and curled them into a bun at the base of her neck, a lock too loose hung in front of the left side of her face, but she didn't bother pinning it. She finished her breakfast then slipped out the back.

She remembered the days when she crawled through the vents, escaping her guards when she was a girl, getting into all sorts of trouble with Saru. She remembered the insane missions that Aunt Azula sent her on, selling fake artefacts on pirate ships among other absurd things. She heard the voices of a pair of imperial firebending guards and ducked behind a pillar, waiting until they passed and rounded a corner.

She made a mental note to pair every firebending guard with an earthbending guard in the palace, if they had enough available. With only firebending guards, it was far too easy to get around unnoticed. No wonder her boys were able to execute their little mission without anyone suspecting anything for over a decade.

"If you're trying to hide, from someone, you're not doing a very good job of it," a small, high pitched, and highly unamused voice said from behind Izumi. She turned and looked down to come face to face with a small boy wearing a very basic red robe. "Do you live here?" he asked her curtly when he saw her surprised expression.

"Yes," she replied, not used to not being recognized after being Fire Lord for so long. But this was a child. He wouldn't learn her face until he went to school. "Do you?" She asked him back.

"For now. My parents are from the island of Quanzhang. It will take them at least a week to come get me," the young boy replied.

"What are you doing hiding in the palace?" Izumi asked.

"The Mister Masaru Lee said we can have this section of the Palace while we're here. We're playing hide and seek," He said.

"How old are you?"

"Eight."

"And-"

"You can't hide forever, RUYU!" a girl called from down the hall. The boy grabbed Izumi's hand and yanked her behind the pillar with him.

"I see him, Jaini," another girl said, running forward stopping by their pillar. "You always did fail trying to disguise your presence with seismic sense!" the girl laughed before noticing Izumi standing in front of the boy. She stepped back, unable to tear her eyes away from Izumi's face and clothing.

"Liya, what is-" the other girl paused when she saw Izumi as well.

"What are you staring at?" Izumi asked. "Or do you recognize me?"

"It's just your clothes. They're cool," the first girl, Liya, said with a shrug, trying to hide her obvious envy. Izumi let out a sigh of relief.

"Why would we recognize you?" the first girl asked.

"You- neverming. Forget I ever said that," Izumi replied.

"Can I ask where you got your costume?" Liya asked.

"My- My friend made it for me," Izumi replied.

"Can you come with us to the barracks? I want to draw it so that once I get back home I can ask our in house seamstress to make one like it."

"Um-" Izumi paused. _Was it really that nice?_

"Stupid rich kid," the boy, Ruyu mumbled behind Izumi.

"We don't even know who she is! What if we can't trust her in the barracks?" Jaini asked.

"She is wandering the palace, not in chains. She MUST be safe!" Liya replied, taking Izumi's hand.

 _Taemon and the twins wandered the palace not in chains, and they nearly destroyed everything that it stood for._ Izumi thought to herself.

"I see the others," the Liya said, running ahead. "Found you- and you- and you!" More children emerged from various crevices, inside of vases and holes in the wall. Liya stomped her foot and earthbent a pillar beneath herself and punched a hole in the wall of the palace. "Got you too Duyen!"

"I hate it when it's Liya's turn to be seeker," Duyen mumbled as he climbed out of the wall and restored with earthbending.

"Are you earthbenders?" Izumi asked.

"We're crossovers!" Liya beamed, turning and bending a ring of fire around her body before placing her fists on her hips.

"You and Duyen are!" Ruyu corrected her.

"You could be too if you weren't so damn close minded! If you only listened to Master Taemon-"

"Taemon was a monster-" Ruyu argued.

"He was a savior!-" Liya insisted.

"He was defeated, if you didn't know," Izumi interjected.

"What?" Jaini gasped.

"By who?" Liya demanded. "I'll kill him!"

"And I am sure you would have a much easier time doing so than Taemon," Izumi responded sarcastically. Liya took a step back.

"So who are you? Are you one of our caretakers?" Duyen asked.

"Caretakers?" Izumi asked.

"A member of the 'proper' Amber League?" Liya clarified, rolling her eyes like a young Yoko.

"I myself am not a member of the Amber League, but like you, I am one of its charges. However in a different capacity, I do try to take care of you, the best I can," Izumi answered.

She wanted to apologize to them for not coming sooner, for not investigating the multitude of kidnappings in the outer isles sooner, and for letting things get so out of hand. The young children seemed unaffected in the immediate aftermath, but she had a feeling that it was simply a facade. She considered offering her dark lightning as a way to make them forget their traumas, but forgetting— wasn't always the best thing.

" _Mother! It was Taemon and Tetsu! Mother, Sunako is innocent. It wasn't her! It wasn't! STOP!" Young Yoko screamed at the top of her little lungs as she fought her mother's grip._

Izumi didn't believe her, when she knew the truth. If she had listened to her own daughter and investigated Taemon and the twins, the last six years could have been avoided. Izumi grimaced as the realization swept over her.

"Are you alright?" the little boy asked.

"Just tired. There's a lot of work to be done behind the scenes."

"What kind of work? Experiments?"

"Are we your guinea pigs, now fire woman?"

"What? No! Work like returning you back to your families and-"

"What if we don't want to go back to our families?"

"What if we want to stay?"

"To fight?"

"What is there to fight for those so young?" Izumi asked, appalled why they wouldn't want to go back after being kidnapped.

"Freedom from limits."

"And freedom from discrimination."

"To not be deemed a monstrosity simply for being a half-breed."

Before Izumi could argue, she heard the crashing of a suit of armor being thrown from its platform.

"I will not leave him!"

"Miss, you must if your father-"

"My father can go suck his own dick! I don't want him to take me back. He never loved me to begin with! Nikita did, and if my father won't let me keep all that I have left of him, then I AM leaving just like I did years ago, on my OWN accord. I wasn't kidnapped! I wanted to fight! I wanted justice."

"If what you say about your father is true, we could file a separate claim to-"

"Have him charged with abuse? I tried! THREE TIMES, I tried, and nothing changed. The state failed. You failed! You may not have learned, but I have. The individual can rely on nobody but themselves to find safety!" a young woman yelled.

"You will have justice, but please, can we discuss this in private with your parents? I assure you the state is on your side! The Fire Lord _does_ value the children of the nation above all because they are our future!" the member of the Amber League replied.

There was a terse sigh. "Fine," the young woman's voice grunted.

"Excuse me, children," Izumi said after the door had closed. She took several side corridors then found the entrance to one of the many secret passageways that twisted through the palace, and climbed into a large ventilation shaft that bent over the room.

"We will not take the baby!" the parents said.

"You don't have a choice unless the state lets me leave you! He's all I have left of Nikita and I will not leave him!"

"Who is Nikita?" the father asked.

"He was my only comfort in your hell. He is the only reason I didn't kill myself years ago!"

"Did he force himself upon you?"

"Of course not!"

"Did anybody?"

"No! I would have killed them with fire and ice," the girl, replied bending water out of Sunako's sleeve and into a spear slamming it into the table where they sat. Then she flicked her wrist and vaporized it with a red and orange fire. "Nikita saved me. He showed me what I was." she said sustaining the blaze on the table with her eyes even after the ice had dissipated. "-the future."

"You're just a monster—"

"Just because I am just stronger now than you will ever be does not make me a monster!"

"What you can do is unnatural!"

"So what if it is? Maybe the Rogues were right! Maybe you old people are too close-minded to understand that this is where we are heading. You're blind to the change that is happening RIGHT BEFORE YOUR EYES!"

"Insolent girl! You are not the daughter we lost eight years ago! They've gone and killed her and replaced her with this thing! Come on let's go-I can't stand to be here any longer."

"Ma'am, Sir, your daughter is only seventeen. She is a legal minor and cannot be legally independent until-" Genkei reminded the parents.

"Then send her to an orphanage! Send her and the little shit in her arms!" the father spat.

 _ **I am afraid that isn't an option. An analysis of your home and socioeconomic standings show that you are financially capable of housing and feeding both for another year until she is of age. Thrusting her and her daughter upon the state because you're afraid of what she is illegal and can result in lifetime imprisonment for abandonment of a minor, in which case she would automatically inherit all of your assets with which she may do as she pleases,**_ Sunako wrote on her parchment.

The father growled and the mother harrumphed.

 _ **Taoyin will return to live with you for the next few months until she is eighteen. You will feed her and house her and she will find a job while you watch the baby. You don't have to amicable but at least cordial. You are only legally responsible for any crimes she commits or debts she incurs in the next few months. IF either party violates these conditions, then other arrangements can be made. The League will be watching very closely.**_

"But where will I work? I joined the Rogue League willingly. Doesn't that brand me a traitor?"

"I was born in the Swamp but now serve the Fire Lord. Does that brand me a traitor to the Earth Kingdom?"

" _ **I suppose not."**_

" _ **A tribunal will decide if the severity of your crimes agains the Nation warrant punishments or if you were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.i wouldn't worrynow if you will excuse me, I need to dig someone out of the vents.**_

"The vents?"

 _ **An earthbender can sense the presence of another by vibrations in the ground, waterbender, by the very water in another's body, and some extremely powerful firebenders, by the electrical impulses that travel through the nerves to our brains,**_ Sunako explained. She watched the teen and her toddler leave before pulling out a second piece of parchment and sending it up to the vents. _**Please come down, Fire Lord Izumi.**_

Izumi climbed out of the ventilation shaft and entered the now-empty room to speak with Sunako.

"I should apologize-"

 _ **To a lot of people but not me. Not yet, at least.**_

Izumi sighed and sat down.

 _ **How are you feeling? Several witnesses claim it was a well aimed rock the size of a fist that finally defeated you.**_

"And was it? I hardly remember anything from that day other than Taemon crying, and an unbearable darkness following," Izumi replied.

 _ **Fatigue, would be my guess,**_ Sunako responded. _**Your inner fire— what Mr. Lee calls it— did incredible things to your body. It was truly extraordinary to examine you after the initial shock of watching a giant flaming lady deliver you to the balcony of the Earthen Fire Estate passed!**_

(What should zumi's expression be to this?) "That wasn't my intention," Izumi replied, her lips quirking into a smile. "What exactly happened after you found me on the balcony? What state was I in?"

 _ **It seemed the fire drained you of almost all of your chi. None of the other healers thought you could wake after such an ordeal and prepared for a state funeral but you were still breathing.**_

"Must have been something to see…"

 _ **I presume you're feeling better now?**_

"I'm alive, but overwhelmed. Do you know if Lin and Su and their families are still here? How's Xiaoyu? She was cut through? Her spirit was bleeding last I saw—"

 _ **Lin and Su and their families are still here. Xiaoyu is okay. Kya started healing her on the battlefield and we've since finished patching her up here.**_

"Are they both livid? Su for Huan and Lin for probably traumatizing her daughter?"

Sunako shifted uncomfortably. _**I'm afraid I can't answer that. Republic City's former Chief Of Police seems to be much better now that her children are all back. Her nervous system is still recovering-you might want to check on that later today. As for the Earth Queen, she's been making quite a few threats but we doubt she'll actually act on any.**_

"Great! I've started a war between Saru and his own sister," Izumi groaned. "How are my children? Where are they?"

 _ **Yoko has gone back to school, and Sasuke to Shu Jing. Iroh, Takeo, Rikuto, and Ursa are still here as are your father, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, and Toph Beifong Of the Swamp**_.

"Yoko…" _IT WASN'T HER!_ "You restored her memories."

 _ **After she woke, she confessed they'd been returning sporadically. Incomplete. She knew something had happened with Taemon and Tetsu but never what. All she was certain of was that she couldn't trust them. She tried to play Tetsuya. She told me she went along with his plan to stall Lin's investigation and manipulate you into sending Xiaoyu out with Kohaku only so she could learn the full extent of his plans… and how to earthbend. She learned his philosophy so she could counter it in that speech. You should know that she has succeed. We've located the archives of the Rogue League's operations in both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. Everyone involved has been accounted for accept for three who disappeared during the battle. There were only a dozen casualties out of two thousand combattants. Only about 1% of the Rogues still remain loyal to Taemon and his philosophy. The rest only wish for the crown to acknowledge the world is changing. They were told they'd be perceived as monsters if anyone found out what they could do before they broke through. And that encounter between that girl and her parents only confirmed their suspicions.**_

"Yoko shouldn't have had to do all of that," Izumi sighed, running her fingers through her hair.

 _ **But she did and there's no going back.**_

"I know. Sunako." The waterbender looked up. "I'm sorry for not investigating your suspicions so many years ago. I'm sorry for allowing my love for my sons to blind me to what you knew was true."

 _ **My Lord, I understand. You're a mother and there is no force more powerful than that love.**_

Just then the intercom for the palace crackled.

"This is General Iroh of the United Forces. I would like to announce that my mother, Fire Lord has officially risen and is in good health and WILL be resuming her duties as Fire Lord. Now I would like to address the Imperial Firebenders, the Amber League, and the Earthen Fire Guard. Thank you all for your stellar cooperation during this ordeal and thank you in advance for your unwavering loyalty to the _NATION_. Good day."

 _ **That's code for we can't help you hide from your father who is acting as regent, My Lord,**_ Sunako said, standing up.

On the dais, Zuko sat on the throne, the wall of fire casting a cool orange glow and illuminating the dark hall. To his right, Katara stood by, advising him. Masaru, Iroh, Takeo, Rikuto, and Ursa stood just below the throne. Izumi knelt.

"Father," she addressed Zuko, bowing to the regent with her head nearly touching the ground.

"Where is your crown?" Zuko asked, seeing her braided blue hair.

"Up my left sleeve," Izumi replied, not lifting her head without permission from the regent.

"Why is it not atop your head?"

"Because I still feel weak and it, far too heavy," Izumi replied. They felt like such childish excuses, but they were not far from the truth.

She could feel him extinguish the flames and walk down from the throne towards her. She remained crouched down having not yet received permission to rise. She felt his hand on her head. "You're still warm."

"I'll be honest, Father. I haven't put much effort into cooling down. I can do it, easily now- I just don't want to. It feels… better this way, and after the battle… an if there's no point hiding, now that the wold has seen what I am…"

"Don't worry about cooling then, Zumi. Do what you must to recover. You know your body best." Zuko said. "I can remain regent until you're at full strength again."

"Thank you, Father," Izumi sighed.

"You may rise now," he said.

She stood. "May I ask, what has become of my sons, and Suyin's second oldest one?"

"They're all currently in prison awaiting trial." Zuko answered stiffly.

"When will be their trial?" Izumi asked quickly.

"As soon as you are well enough to preside over it. Hopefully by the end of the week."

"And in which prison are they being held?" Izumi asked.

"That I am afraid we cannot tell you," Zuko replied.

Izumi's head shot up in surprise. "But I am still the Fire Lord- and their mother- I have a right to know where my OWN sons are being held!"

"It is in the best interests of the nation that you don't know. We're worried you may set them free-"

"That is ridiculous. I may be their mother, but my love for them does not cloud my judgement anymore! I'd sooner beat them myself— AGAIN for deceiving me than set them free! I just want to see for myself that they're still breathing, Father, you must understand my concerns!— all the times I've gone missing—"

"A father's devotion is different from a mother's and as regent I must put the wellbeing of the Fire Nation before your demands…and as Fire Lord, you too must put your nation before your family-" Zuko replied.

"No," Izumi said sharply.

"I beg your pardon?" Zuko asked.

"Don't you think you've sacrificed me one-too many times for the nation? All it has done is created a monster with an ever-growing desire to burn down that same nation. If you don't tell me where my children are, I will find out myself," Izumi decided, sweeping out of the room without even giving Masaru or the four children present a single glance.

"Mom!" Ursa and Iroh yelled.

"Zumiya!"

"Mother!" Takeo and Rikuto called after her.

Just before Izumi reached the doors to the Throne Room, they were thrown open and in marched the Earth Queen with an entourage of Royal Earthbenders, Dai Li Agents, and Metalbending guards from Zaofu.

"Good you're awake," Suyin chirped, crossing her arms smugly. "Where is my son?"

"She doesn't know!" Masaru yelled.

"They refuse to tell me where mine are too. I was on my way to find out before you came and ruined everything," Izumi replied, pushing right through Suyin's guards and out of the room.

"Zumiya!" Masaru ran after her.

* * *

"Ma'am, you are not allowed in here!" a guard informed Izumi, standing in front of the door. She raised a hand and knocked him out with a quick surge of energy.

"Zumi!" Masaru raised a hand at her back and electrocuted her, fighting for control of her body.

"Saru- let go!" Izumi grunted, trying to fight him inside herself.

"No. You hurt an innocent sentry to selfishly get the information you seek. I cannot allow that behavior to be rewarded. Stand down, Izumi," Masaru ordered.

"You cannot command me!" Izumi shrieked, a tear falling from her eyes.

"I can and I am!" Masaru yelled, taking a few steps closer, strengthening his grip on her muscles. "You may be my Fire Lord, but you will soon be my wife too. I care about you and I know senselessly hurting people isn't your nature."

"If you cared, you'd let me see my sons," Izumi replied through gritted teeth as she grew scared, being unable to move her own body.

"Taemon, Tetsu, and Tatsu are my sons too," Masaru replied softly. "I want you to visit them, but I cannot divulge their location until we know you are level enough to face them. And frankly dear, you aren't helping your case."

Masaru felt her stop trying to resist, and let him bring her to the floor, kneeling. He let go and went to inspect the sentry stationed outside of the archives. He placed his hand on the guard's soldier and woke him. "Are you alright?" the business man asked, looking down with worry.

"You're one of them too!" the guard yelped, diving away at the sight of Masaru's flaming red hair.

"I'm not going to hurt you and I'm not going to let her hurt you. I just wanted to apologize for her actions. She's been feeling rather bereft, but I know that does not excuse her actions," Masaru replied, turning to Izumi kneeling on the floor, her hair dimming but still pretty bright.

The guard eyed them skeptically. Masaru said no more as he picked up the Fire Lord bridal style and took her back to her room.

* * *

Hours later, they found themselves in the Sunset Room, where there was no throne, and everyone could be seated as equals at a perfectly circular, headless table. Izumi sat flanked by her fiancé and her father. On the other side of Masaru sat Lin and on the other side of her, Tenzin, then Suyin, Baatar, Kya, Bumi, Toph, and Katara.

"I suppose I should apologize for all this," Izumi said, commencing the meeting with her crown resting on the table, again refusing to wear the wretched thing.

"Apologize for what exactly?" Lin asked, sounding much cooler than Izumi expected her to be after such a near-death experience with Xiaoyu.

"Taking our son away?" Suyin asked rhetorically, jade eyes glaring.

"Please," Baatar whispered softly, placing a hand on his wife's leg. "Huan's actions were no fault of Izumi's."

Suyin huffed and blew a lock of wavy grey hair out of her face.

"Izumi, how long have you known about this-'inner flame?'" Lin asked.

"It first revealed itself to me when I was twenty-three years old. I was lost in the Si Wong Desert after escaping a sandbender who wanted to whore me away in some black market city. After a few days without food or water, when I knew I couldn't cry anymore or risk complete dehydration, I saw my hands and arms catch flames. I woke up weeks later in an herbalist's tent in a sand bending village with a little girl beside me. Nala, she was. She told me how a giant, blue, flaming figure deposited me at hers and her father's feet, begged them to help me and then dissipated without a trace. They'd called me 'the Desert Lady'. Thought I was a spirit that had become immensely sad or immensely angry. My hair burned blue for nearly the entire year that I was there."

"What were you doing in the desert in the first place?" Baatar asked, showing genuine concern.

"Trying to find my husband. I wanted to make him hurt for what he had done to me during our marriage. I wanted to make him suffer and then kill the both of us and be able to call it a mercy, to put us out of our misery, as I'd wished he had done on multiple occasions." Izumi answered honestly.

"Why didn't you come to Republic City when he hurt you, or after? We could have helped you," Kya asked.

"My duty then was to produce an heir and a spare for my nation. I didn't have time for a vacation or spiritual retreat! After, I was afraid— no certain that I would be perceived as a monster. I had no explanation for my temperature, my blue hair— didn't know what I was and it was terrifying. I was the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation! I had a three year old baby! Both my nation and my son would think me a freak! I was someone whom no one could touch without getting burned. I couldn't control my energy or heat, and after weeks of complete immobility, my muscles had been reduced to NOTHING!" Izumi replied, looking not at anyone but down at the empty table. "I was supposed to be perfect! The first Fire Lord to ascend the throne without a criminal record. I was supposed to be the one to redeem my family's honor on the international stage after generations of genocide and tyranny. I could not return to my nation a spiritually-imbalanced flaming lady!"

"How did you ever return to normal?" Baatar asked curiously.

"I went to Wan Shi Tong's Library to try to find out what I was. I scoured the place almost every waking hour, pretty much whenever I wasn't helping out around the house where I was staying or helping the village hunt. The last people who had access to their inner flame were General Zhi and his army that united the Fire Islands the first time tens of thousands of years ago. People were terrified of him even though he only intended to bring peace. I don't want people to fear me!" Izumi said. "He taught me that Fire is supposed to be a bringer of life, not destruction. Its heat is the energy that powers every process in every organism, every society, every ecosystem and environment. He told me to reestablish that peace, educate the masses, and above all reintroduce the true meaning of firebending. I made that my goal and came to terms with what I was and what I wanted to become and found inner peace."

"Perhaps recent events have jostled that peace, resulting in a weakening sense of self assurance. Maybe that's why your hair had been flaring more and more frequently." Tenzin mused.

"Recently?" Izumi scoffed. "More like decades of pressure and anxiety," Izumi mumbled, resting her chin on the table like a tired teenager in a morning class still recovering from a night out. Masaru looked over and stroked her head, running his hand through her hair and down her back, petting her like a volcat or a baby dragon.

"What can we do to help you, Fire Lord Izumi?" Baatar asked, leaning forward.

"Help you never let your inner fire through again," Suyin suggested.

"Never?" Izumi lifted her gaze but left her head on the table.

"It is something that provides emotional release. I see that now and I think Izumi should not have to hide this ability," Zuko suggested.

"It seems dangerous—" Suyin explained.

"It isn't! It doesn't even burn anything unless I make it. It's a life force! A protector. It wants peace just as much as the rest of us. It isn't dangerous at all!" Izumi yelled, standing with both hands straight on the table, her hair flaring. Suyin shrunk back in her seat, frightened.

Without a word, Masaru closed his hand around Izumi's upper arm. Her head whipped around angrily and she hissed at him, almost ferally but he didn't waver in the least as he pulled her back into her seat. "Su, it isn't the Fire you should fear. The Fire itself is not dangerous, only the woman wielding it."

"I don't believe you! I knew Zumzu before all this shit went down and she was never this volatile."

"Suyin, do you think I am dangerous?" Masaru asked, leaning forward onto his elbows.

"Not really, why?" Suyin asked.

Masaru lifted his gaze to his little sister. His hair turned a flaming red and released his six dragons, letting four of them dance across the meeting table in their semi-translucent flaming form.

"Because I can do it too," Masaru said, sitting back in his chair. Some of the dragons played with each other, wrestling. "I used to think it dangerous. I encouraged Zumi to hide it away, I helped her cover up the evidence whenever it did come through. I learned to smother it, to smother her. But just last week, she found sources in the Library that further proved it wasn't such a bad thing. It feels good to let out all that pent up energy. It IS relief." Masaru turned his attention to his dragons. "These are its most basic forms, I think. Those small ones that are playing, those are Fear, Hunger, Father, and Regret. I keep them as small as I can, but they're still there, lungs still breathing, hearts still beating. There is still so much to be learned about them. They are manifestations of our emotions all constantly vying for more of our energy and attention. What we as people have to learn to control is not just one inner fire, but each of these six emotions. Feed one too much of our energy, and we can destroy ourselves."

"Is that what's happening to that guy?" Suyin asked, nodding to the two massive red dragons behind Masaru. One of them was smelling Izumi. She was leaning away, she hated that one.

"Those are Heart and Husband. They're large but not to the large enough for me to self destruct." One of the massive, red dragons bent down to smell Izumi warily." Husband doesn't like Izumi's Fear very much. He wants her to let out her dragons so he can attack her Hurt and Fear. They fight a lot."

"What does that even mean?" Suyin asked.

"Show her," Masaru urged, nudging Izumi encouragingly.

"Why should I? I am not a circus freak or some oddity to be put on display in a museum!" Izumi replied, her voice cracking. "I didn't come here to play show and tell with myself!" Masaru took both her hands and touched his forehead to hers.

"You're not an oddity. You are unique. We both are and it's okay," Masaru replied, cupping her chin and kissing her was something about his touch that melted her resistance. She trusted and loved him. She folded her arms angrily and let out her dragons. Her smallest ones didn't play. They were barely the length of fingers while the largest two, Hurt and Fear, were immediately rammed into the wall by Masaru's Heart and Husband.

Izumi winced and squeezed his hands.

"Does it hurt?" Kya asked, watching Izumi while Suyin warily watched the dragons fighting off to the side of the room.

"Not physically,"Izumi answered. "It's strange-invasive, almost. But afterwards, everything feels so much easier," Izumi replied.

"I see it as a time-saving alternative to petty arguing," Masaru said with a sloppy smile.

Izumi curled up under his arm. Her face was relaxing and she seemed to be getting more comfortable as the dragons continued their fight.

Masaru's dragons triumphed and his other ones rolling around on the table, wrestling got slightly bigger. Izumi's finger-length dragons grew to the size of her forearm and her hurt and Fear limped back into her tired from the day's event.

"What do you want to do Zumzu?" Zuko asked, tucking a lock of blue hair behind his daughter's ear.

"First, I want to know how many people have seen my fire," Izumi replied.

"Well, considering it carried you about three thousand miles and stands about a hundred feet high, I'd say a good third of the nation," Masaru replied.

Izumi turned her face into Masaru's shirt and groaned loudly with frustration.

Masaru's Heart bent down beside her and groaned back. She stuck her tongue out at it and then snuggled up against him again.

"Do you want to cover it up?" Zuko asked Izumi more specifically.

"No. I'm done hiding. It's absolutely exhausting and counterproductive," Izumi said. "All I want is peace. Peace for myself and for that, peace for the world." Izumi thought for a moment. "I want to be honest. Living a lie as well as Aunt Azula taught me to has only clouded my mind from the truth. It's that confusion of what is and isn't actually before me that strengthened the denial that enabled the twins, Taemon, and Huan to execute their plan to exploit the special benders of the Fire Nation and the EK to overthrow us in the name of some unfeasible freedom."

"And what will you do with your inner fire once it is out?" Tenzin asked.

"I want to continue what my father and Avatar Aang started. I want to help maintain peace and balance in the world."

"Isn't that what we have Korra for?" Suyin asked pointedly.

"Ah yes, the new Avatar. And where was she in all this?"

"Minding her own business. Domestic issues aren't her responsibility." Suyin answered.

"Oh then I supposed she shouldn't have gone to Zaofu to duel Kuvira for the autonomy of your city. She should have just let you remain imprisoned for trying to assassinate the girl you called a daughter and then watch your city be ransacked!" Izumi replied, throwing Masaru's arm off of her shoulder to practically launch herself over the table at Suyin. "The avatar is supposed to concern herself with worldly matters. Not just those pertaining to her close friends and family!"

"That was different-"

"How? If you learned ANYTHING from Uncle Aang it should have been that the world needs ALL of the Nations to continue to turn!" Izumi sat down. "Maybe I could help out the Air Nomads mediate talks between opposing parties in any and all skirmishes in every nation."

"You'd be seen as the ultimate Fire Nation imperialist trying to stick your flaming nose into every country's business," Suyin replied bitterly.

"I wouldn't be concerning myself with your shitty politics. I would be on the ground with the people. For example, if another equalist revolution arose, I could fight for neutrality— be the buffer between the warring sides. In the Earth Kingdom, I could quell the bandits in the Si Wong Desert that you still haven't addressed. I could help reduce the poverty in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se that you still haven't even acknowledged, and provide the necessary equipment to revolutionize farming in the famine-ridden northern EK. The list of work that could be done in the Earth Kingdom alone is endless, and yet it's current ruler doesn't seem to be very interested in doing anything about it, so why shouldn't I step up?" Izumi asked pointedly.

"Okay, we all just need to settle down before we begin another Hundred Year war between Earth and Fire," Baatar said, holding back Suyin, while Masaru contained Izumi.

"Can you even serve the world in such a capacity as the current Fire Lord?" Lin asked.

"I was planning on abdicating immediately after the wedding— but I think I now it will be best done just after my boys' trials." Izumi replied

"Right, I'd forgotten about that," Lin noted.

"So you can clear them of all charges?" Suyin asked.

"I'm not you. My sons deserve no mercy for their crimes against humanity."

"Zumi— remember your lessons!" Zuko reprimanded.

Izumi grimaced. FOCUS "Even before leaving office, I can help the world. As Fire Lord, I can do whatever I want in my country. As a free citizen of my country, I can pledge allegiance to anybody I want to. But I suppose I should get your approval first before making such declarations."

"That would probably be best," Lin nodded.

"We would gladly accept whatever assistance you can provide to our endeavors so long as they do not involve the use of dark lightning." Tenzin expressed.

"Dark lightning isn't all bad. It can heal too. It is only called dark because it is used where the sun doesn't shine," Izumi insisted.

"Than so long as it is used without malintent. No torture, please. Only healing," Lin asked.

"Deal. Suyin?" Izumi promised and turned.

Suyin groaned. "For the sake of my people, I will accept, but know that I want my son back and if I do not get him, I will return with the full strength of my army."

"I invite the invasion. It would provide a nice training exercise for my men," Izumi mumbled with her arms folded petulantly.

"Both of you QUIT THIS!" Masaru snapped.

"My Lord, there is a phone for you," Hiryur announced, entering the room.

"Who thinks they are so important that they can interrupt a meeting between the Fire Lord, the Earth Queen and the Grand Master of the Air Nomads?" Suyin asked irritably as Izumi rose to receive the call.

"The chieftains of the Northern Water Tribe," Hiryur replied, handing over the phone.

"Actually, that is perfect timing," Masaru thought to himself.

"Fire Lord Izumi here," Izumi answered, tiredly.

"Fire Lord Izumi, we just wanted to check up on the status of your nation" came the droning voice of Eska of the Northern Water Tribe.

"From our city, it looked as if the Fire Islands were burning on our horizon," Desna added.

"The nation is stronger than ever. Thank you for your concern. The fires were just- me teaching a son a lesson,"

"Are you alright, Fire Lord Izumi?" Desna asked.

"Our sources say you slept for three days in the aftermath of the flames," Eska informed the Fire Lord.

"Who are your sources?" Izumi asked curiously, not liking to be spied on but perfectly content with spying on others.

"We cannot disclose their identities for their own safety. Forgive us," Desna replied.

"Naturally," Izumi sighed. "I am still recovering, but for the most part, fine. Thank you for your concern."

"We are glad." Desna deadpanned.

"Is that all you were going to ask?"

"Yes."

"Then before you go, may I ask a question of you? Or more- well… tell you what actually happened?" Izumi waited and when she heard no protest, continued. "I have an ability to access the purest energy that exists in all firebenders. It is a defense mechanism that in most of its forms, when released, can act on their own accord to protect me and my goals. For the most part, it obeys. Three days ago, I had to bring it out for the first time in battle to secure the safety of my nation. I have hidden it for years out of fear that the world would think me a monster. Recently, I have gained more understanding of it and would like to use it for good, to help maintain the peace and the balance in the world that the previous Avatar strove for. With your approval, I would like to publicly declare my allegiance, not necessarily just to you but to your people as well. In the event of an emergency, I could come, provide espionage services, mediate discussions and negotiations, and with my inner fire, quell anyone's willingness to engage the other party with violence."

"You've unlocked your inner fire," Eska asked, sounding equally surprised and impressed.

"We have heard of tales like it growing up." Desna informed the Fire Lord.

"Our one Father never could reach his true spirit so he sought out Vaatu's."

"Only a fool would decline your request, Fire Lord Izumi."

"We accept your proposal to provide aid in the event of social unrest and welcome you to come to the Northern Water Tribe any time you see reason."

"In fact, you can come now if you like— and take over at least for a little while."

"Ruling the tribe is so tedious."

Izumi laughed remembering her first spontaneous trip to the northern Tribe with Kya and how fun it was. "As much as I enjoy the Water Tribes, now is not exactly a good time with so much to clean up here and your people are at peace. They, nor you, need intervention now. I will not concern myself with the Water Tribe politics at the present nor do I find it ethical for fire to rule your people for you. I will just help minimize insurgency and international disputes so long as you rule relatively justly and without too much issue." Izumi replied.

"That is reasonable."

"Is that all, then?"

"Yes," Izumi confirmed.

"Then we wish you a speedy recovery from this battle, and goodluck with your new quest."

"Thank you Chiefs Eska and Desna." Izumi said hanging up with a heavy sigh. Zuko and Masaru both nodded with approval as Izumi turned back to the table.

"While you're still at the phone, would you like to call Tonraq of the Southern Tribe?" Zuko suggested.

"Sure." Izumi shrugged dialing. Might as well. She questioned the propriety of calling Tonraq in the presence of the other world leaders but then thought there was no harm in

"Chief Tonraq speaking."

"Hey, it's Fire Lord Izumi."

"Fire Lord Izumi? How are you feeling? My sources say you embarked on a rescue mission for one of Chief- former Chief Beifong's children and things went south- Are you alright?"

"I am still recovering, but for the most part, better now. Thank you for asking— hey I just wanted to… ask… I'm not sure how much you know about firebending but— I've this ability that hasn't been seen for a while…"

"Like Zaheer and flying?"

Izumi laughed, probably shouldn't have but did. "I guess like that. I— I've hidden it for a long while out of fear, but a recent turn of events has made me reconsider. I'd like to pledge myself, and it to helping the world, and publicly declare an allegiance not just to the world leaders but the civilians in all of our nations. I would like to serve, in whatever capacity I can, everyone that I can with my power."

"That's very noble of you."

"Thank you."

"If there is anything we can do in the meantime, do not hesitate to reach out please. As you have seen, it is not weakness you exhibit when you ask for assistance, but bravery, to acknowledge your flaws and faults."

"I knew it once, but have forgotten this recently. Thank you, Tonraq for the reminder."

"I wish you luck, Izumi," Tonraq said, smiling on his end of the phone. "Now I should probably let you get back to your reconstruction. My sources tell me even the palace is in a rather shambled state after a hearing for traitors in the Amber League went awry."

"Who told you?"

"Sunako,"

"How? She can't-"

"Morse-"

"Right, well you're right, I suppose I should get back to work eventually, and yourself. Talk to you soon."

"And you."

"Goodbye!"

"Bye."

 _Click!_

"You're so friendly with the Water Tribes," Lin commented quietly.

"They pose no threat to the Fire Nation after being nearly obliterated by the end of the last war-" Suyin muttered.

"They know me." Izumi corrected Suyin. She turned to Kya. "And I know them."

"Is that all for the phone calls?" Hiryur asked.

"I believe there's the still the United Republic left…"

"Right, the new President, Zhu Li."

"I've heard she's a level mind,"

"At least more level than Raiko, and more selfless."

"Well might as well get it over with, Zumzu," Zuko shrugged.

Hiryur dialed then handed the phone to Izumi.

After a long while a secretary answered. "The President is currently unavailable-"

"Where is she?" Izumi asked flatly.

"At a mover premier with her husband, the Great Iknik Blackstone Varrick-"

"This is the Fire Lord Izumi. Can you please pass me through to a direct line?" Izumi asked.

"I am sorry, your lordship, my instructions were to only receive messages for the President with no exceptions," the secretary explained.

"Very well, you may record the following message for your President. In refusing to speak with other world leaders in the wake of quelled imminent international chaos, President Zhu Li Moon has by default declined the offer of influences in any decisions made henceforth regarding the matter. Good day," Izumi said hanging up."

"Zumzu," Zuko said condescendingly. _That was not nice._

"Spare me!" Izumi snarled before turning away.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To draft up a press statement for tomorrow morning," Izumi replied, rudely heading for the door.

Tenzin reached out a hand behind his hair and while blowing the heat she emanated away, grasped her wrist, stopping her. "Zumi, may we see it before you make the announcement tomorrow regarding this pledge to the world?"

Izumi paused to consider it. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Maybe you can help make sure it doesn't sound like I intend to become the world's policeman."

"Exactly."

"Thank you, Tenzin."

Tenzin nodded and let her go.

"Is that it then she swears fealty and we're all good again after seeing what we've seen and knowing what she knows? She has a secret police that trafficked children for an elite army-"

"The Rogue League isn't a part of the Amber League," Masaru repeated.

"And doesn't the Dai Li do the same thing?" Lin asked pointedly.

Suyin harrumphed and fell silent.

"Kya, do you think you can- keep her from her sons until the trial?" Masaru asked, changing the subject.

"I can try," Kya offered.

"Thank you."

Zuko adjourned the meeting with a summary and a bang of a gong precisely on the hour and everyone was free to return to their families.

* * *

They were both exhausted after what felt like hours of love making, but Izumi still couldn't sleep. She turned over and watched the Southern Watertribe woman breathing, backlit by the moonlight. She looked so relaxed, so at peace while she slept. She never did marry or have children. She never felt that same duty or obligation a wife and mother did. She was so free in her existence, free to travel, experiment and learn, free to explore. She did not suffer from the endless barrage of public scrutiny. Though the Avatar's Daughter, she could be anything she wanted to be. Izumi reaches out and ran her thumb along a line that marred the side of her once smooth face. another wrinkle that she'd acquired with age.

"So lucky," Izumi whispered, jealous of her lover.

"Hm?" Kya stirred.

"I was just thinking,"

"Seems it's all you've been doing these past few years. Doesn't it get tiring," Kya asked with a lopsided smile much like her maternal Uncle's.

"Always, but there's no time to ever break," Izumi replied resting her hand on her lover's neck, looping her thumb under the betrothal necklace she gave the Southern Water Tribe woman the day she informed her they couldn't be.

"Take a short break, to be with me," Kya said sliding closer to kiss the Fire Lord.

Izumi accepted the kiss. The lips were salty from the tears that they'd both shed that evening, but her tongue was so sweet as it reached deeper.

"I'm sorry, Kya," Izumi whispered when they broke for air.

"For what?" Kya asked.

"Everything," Izumi said, bending the lightning into her lover's brain, reaching for a memory while stifling a scream.

"Can you keep her from our sons?" Masaru asked.

"How do you propose that?"

"Diverting her attention if she gets near."

"Near to what?"

"The Capital Prison. Maybe you can tell her they're being held at the Boiling Rock," Masaru suggested.

"Will do,"

"Better yet, just be you. Love her. Lover her like I never could." Masaru asked.

"I will always."

"Thank you."

Izumi released her hold on her lover's muscles and brain and then pressed that point at the base of her head that forced her into a dreamless sleep that would last at least a few hours.

"I'm sorry, Kya. I have to see them," Izumi whispered, climbing out of bed with the information she needed. She pulled a nightgown over her nakedness, a robe and a heavy cloak and headed for the door only to find it locked. She tried to undo the mechanism with magnetic field generation, but it had been melted, soldered shut and blasting it apart was sure to wake someone. She was locked like a prisoner in her own palace in their attempts to keep her from her sons. She crossed the room to the window. There were at least two Yuyan archers on the roof above her and at least six on the roof below.

Izumi climbed onto the sill of her window and reached one hand out to the archers above and another to those below and willed their muscles to contract and extend. She made them lower their weapons and silently step away from the edge, covering their eyes and remaining silent while doing so, and she slipped into the night unseen.

* * *

"Who goes there?" the prison guard yelled raising his arms when the hooded figure came closer.

Izumi opened her palm and sent electricity coursing through the ground the guard. He screamed and fell to his knees, every muscle and every nerve in his body aching.

"F—Fire L-L-Lord Izu-mi?" the guard asked, trembling.

Several of Izumi's abilities as a firebender were already published in the state papers as a form of deterrent. However in the attempt to deter other firebenders from mimicking her techniques and possibly self combusting, she had gotten herself named public enemy number 1 by several private papers that described how her god-like abilities made her a monster that couldn't be trusted with the safety of the nation. Taemon's tactics of instilling fear in the people had worked short term, but Izumi knew that after the initial panic they'd remember what she'd done for them and they'd forgive the strange display of her inner fire.

"I am going in for a visit and nobody is going know about it. Not my father, not any of my guards, and certainly not the Amber League if they come asking. I don't feel like being lectured in the morning. Break, and you'll have to answer to me," Izumi said to the guard, not lifting her head as she entered the prison.

"Y-ye-yes m-m-m-my L-Lord," the man stuttered, bowing.

Izumi found the warden's office, picked the lock with one of her knives, and searched the logbooks for her sons. They'd been interned almost immediately after the battle without issue. Losing one's bending does strange things to one's energy and chi-pathways. She wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't even walk the rest of that day. They were all separated in far corners of the prison with Taemon in a high security cell deep underground. She went to see Tatsuya first. It took all of her self will to not break open the gate and let him out just so she could hold him again and try to convince herself that they'd be okay.

He looked so different with his hair not in a ponytail. He looked like Tetsu, but his face was much sadder and much more gaunt than she had ever seen he was like a living corpse with bags under his eyes. He gaze was different as if he were suffering from withdrawal of something and didn't know where he was

"Mother, I'm sorry! I— is there anything! Any way I can repent to get my bending back—you must understand. I was only obeying Tetsu! Mother, please!"

"Save your breath. There's no use trying to convince me of your self-proclaimed innocence. Was it not your philosophy to never hold hold back? So I won't hold back! I won't show mercy since this entire time, you should have been obeying me. It's funny what happens- how people change when they're afraid," Izumi said.

"If you're not here to show me mercy, then why come?"

Izumi dropped her hood and knelt down. "Because you're still my son. I wanted to make sure you were okay, still eating... breathing..."

"I'm not going to kill myself now if that's what you're worried about," Tatsuya groaned, laying down.

"That's good to hear." Izumi replied. "Why did you do it? Why did you follow them into this mess?"

"It was interesting learning to bend water. And bored I guess. Bored with fire."

"So you thought it would be fun to torment parents by abducting their children and subjecting them to torture and propaganda?" Izumi asked.

"No, it wasn't like that! Not at first. We just wanted to share our knowledge. See if it was possible for others. We wanted a village of sorts with others like us. We wanted validation, and worried that you would think us monsters for what we'd done to ourselves!" Tatsuya explained.

"Tsuya, come here," Izumi ordered, moving closer to the bars.

Tatsuya eyed her skeptically.

"Do you remember when Great Uncle Sokka told you about that blood bender Hama who used to terrorize that one Fire Nation Village?"

"Yes," Tatsuya replied, not moving towards her.

"Do you remember what you asked me that night?"

"No?"

"You asked, 'Mother, do you think that monster is still alive? Do you think she will come after us for your grandfather's crimes?'"

Tatsu blinked away tears, the long-buried memory resurfacing.

"'Monsters don't exist. Good and evil is present in everyone. But if that woman tries to come after you, I'll prevail and lock her away because you've don't nothing wrong and cannot be blamed for the sins of our forefathers...'" Tatsuya recited. He thought in silence for a few moments. "How can monsters not exist when we fell into such dark territories under the guise of exploration and experimentation?"

"If curiosity is what creates a monster than I am certainly one. I've created a martial art far worse than bloodbending. I can make people hurt and turn their own bodies against them. Bloodbending feels strange and invasive, terrifying, but it doesn't hurt like how I can make someone hurt. Dark lighting can kill a person, can paralyze them temporarily or permanently, can wipe away certain or all memories and I've perfected it. Can you guess how?"

"Experimentation?"

"I don't blame you for wanting to find a village of people like you, or for wanting to make one when you found none existed. I do blame you however, for not considering the consequences of your actions, the pain it caused these families to lose their loved ones and the pain it caused the children, especially to lose their families. But I also blame myself for all those things," Izumi said.

Tatsuya sat up. "No, don't-"

"I failed as a mother to make you feel safe enough at home, to be satisfied with your standing. I failed to make you comfortable, to let you know that you can talk to me about feeling alone, and for that, I'm so sorry," Izumi said.

"Mother- this wasn't your fault!" Tatsuya said. When he heard his mother's voice crack, he moved closer. "Mother- don't blame yourself," he said, reaching though the bars to place a hand on her shoulder.

She gasped and clasped hers over his. "You're cold!"

"Mother, I'm not. I'm just not as warm as a firebender now," he replied sadly.

Izumi held his hand and his bicep and warmed him from the inside out with her bending. He laughed. "You're lying to me. Not even Sasuke runs this cold and he's never been a bender of anything," Izumi said firmly.

"Mother," Tatsuya sighed. "Stop fretting."

"Maybe a lack of fretting is what landed us here in the first place. I should have been more attentive- more present. Spent less time tormenting my own enemies for comfort and more time making sure my children would be better than me in terms of morality when it came time to test the limits of their own abilities," Izumi growled, warming him completely with a scowl on her face.

"Thank you, mother," he said quietly. Izumi paused, not sure if she had heard her son's voice it was so soft.

"For what?"

"All you have done."

"I just wish I could have done more," Izumi replied. "I should go see the others and get back before either your or my father sends out the huntsmen and their eel hounds."

"You didn't tell them you were coming?"

"Of course not! They'd never approve," Izumi said, turning to the side with a huff of irritation. "Even with all of the power in the world, there is no freedom. Remember that, Tatsu. No matter what, we are bound by obligation to one entity or another, family, duty, honor... all of it." Izumi said. "I hope you sleep as well as you can. I'm afraid I won't be able to help you during the trial... but that doesn't mean I won't try."

* * *

Tetsuya didn't believe her. Of course he wouldn't. He was so similar. So jaded and skeptical, always on guard. "If you've done all that you've say you've done, if you claim to be as immoral as we, if you claim to be the same, then stand trial with us for your abuse of power-" Tetsuya challenged.

"I stand trial with you and you never even get a chance to walk free again!" Izumi argued.

"What does freedom matter if we'll be sentenced to death, Mother? You may not want to kill us but I'm sure there are plenty who do and the law—"

"Can be overruled only by the Fire Lord. If Iroh becomes Fire Lord and has to try all of four of us? You KNOW as well as I that his interests align with the people!"

"And yours don't?" Tetsuya asked, testing her. He had always been so smart, so sharp and clever.

"Mine walk a middle line," Izumi replied, treading carefully, knowing he was crafty, and that anything she said could be later used against her.

Tetsuya said nothing in response.

"Only I would want to see you walk free eventually. And only I can ever restore your bending. But I need mine to do so."

"Anyone can energybend if they knew what to do," Tetsuya scoffed, rolling his eyes. He would never admit any sort of dependence.

"I didn't use energybending on you," Izumi replied. "I physically seared your chi pathways closed so that not even meditation could ever open your chakras again. And only I know where to singe off the dead fibers and promote new growth that will allow that energy to flow again," Izumi replied.

Tetsuya looked up at his mother with horror. "Where did you learn such a sick craft?"

"Towards the end of my formal training, my primary firebending instructor was my dear Aunt." Izumi answered pacing by Tetsuya's cell. "She was a genius without a conscience. Looking back, I can see she skewed my own perception on things. Made me comfortable with doing whatever it took to preserve my own life and only those closest to me even if it cost others everything," Izumi replied.

"What are your plans, mother?"

"What do you mean?"

"Someone as smart as you doesn't study this hard, experiment this much with things that are so dangerous for nothing. Curiosity with that fervor does not exist. What are you planning?"

"I don't know."

"Then I suggest you should get back to the palace, before Father wakes and finds you missing."

"You're my perfect foil, Tetsu, do you know that?"

"Am I? Or is Taemon?" Tetsuya asked, turning for the first time to face her.

She subconsciously lifted her chin, as a mother would scolding her child, but this boy wasn't a boy anymore. He could not be deterred by a condescending gaze. He was a challenger. He was every bit a part of her like her and she found it infuriating.

* * *

Taemon looked relaxed sitting square in the center of his cell, meditating. He had accepted his fate when her fire overpowered him and took her bending when she was incapacitated. He knew hs could not beat her. "Saru told me what happened. That I blacked out after you hit me with that rock. That my fire acted for me." Izumi said to Taemon. He ignored her… or tried to. "I hope it didn't hurt you. I hope it didn't- do anything permanent that I couldn't undo- If-"

"What would it matter if it did or didn't?" Taemon asked. "You hate me for turning your sons and your nephew against you. You hate me because of who my father was to you. You see him in me, don't you?"

"No more than I see Hisoki in Iroh and you know that,Taemon," Izumi replied.

"But that took time."

"As does anything. Forgive me for being human and for needing time to forgive the blood that runs through you," Izumi replied.

"You don't deserve forgiveness!"

"Neither do you, but we both still receive it," Izumi replied, surprising the young man.

He turned to face her standing there in his high-security, windowless cell.

She continued. "I won't let them kill you. I know the boy in you is capable of being better than the monster in me- of growing. When he comes back, I will give him his bending."

"And what if I told you now that boy is dead," Taemon asked.

"I would tell you you're lying to yourself. I can see through you, you know that full well."

"Then why couldn't you see through the omissions in our reports to you throughout the last decade?"

"Because I didn't want to believe what I was seeing. I was in denial."

"How do you know you aren't still?"

Before Izumi could answer there was a pop and an explosion. The unmistakable sound of a combustion bender. Izumi took one look at Taemon's shocked expression and ran. There was a cloaked woman followed by two others. She looked up at Izumi and scrunched up her face in concentration. The Fire Lord put her hands together and channeled her energy into creating a rainbow shield of fire. It was the fire of life she learnt how to bend from the dragons when she was ten. It deflected the blast from the combustion bender to the walls and ceiling of the prison, weakening its foundation. The combustion bender must have been surprised, because she didn't fire again. The combustion bender's two accomplices jumped behind Izumi as soon as she dissipated her fire to see and tried to chi-block her, but she knew how to respond and ended up disabling them instead, then turned back to the combustion bender.

"Do you know who I am?" Izumi asked, igniting her hair blue, letting out her dragons, multiplying the angles from which she could attack.

"Give me Taemon Yamakatsu, and nobody else has to die tonight."

"Else?"

"The sentry is dead. He was incompetent. He let me enter thinking his only job was preventing inmates from leaving. I thought his death might prompt a proper replacement," the combustion benders said, walking forward. Hurt attacked from the rear, but the Combustion Bender repelled him with a stream of red fire. Then Heart tried only to be repelled.

"Don't you know you can't fight fire with fire?" the combustion bender asked with a smirk, unfazed.

"Why do you want Taemon?"

"I was a member of his Rogue League. I wanted to see if he could do a better job at teaching than his father. I was wrong. And now I want to kill him for all he's done," the combustionbender answered.

"If you hated his teachings, and was a part of his little posse, why didn't you kill him sooner?"

"He was too powerful then," the combustionbender explained.

"Ah— so you're the type to only prey on the weak. You are only comfortable killing him after I've taken his bending! How noble!" Izumi scoffed, standing her ground outside her former ward's cell.

"Why are you protecting him?"

"Because he is every bit my son as the twins and I'd sooner die than see him fall under a blast from your freak of a third eye!" Izumi replied firmly, her hair growing brighter, her eyes narrowing, her Mother, Fear, and Hunger all growing larger. Hurt and Heart both slithered up her arms as both were too weak to fight.

"He is not your son! He is a Yamakatsu, through and through. You knew the monster his father was and you hated him too! Taemon is the same!"

"Did he ever beat and rape anyone in the Rogue League?" Izumi asked not wanting to believe Taemon was as bad as Kage.

"Stop stalling—"

"Answer me!"

"No. He didn't. But he killed in cold blood! Is that really any better?"

"Yes!"

Taemon gasped in his cell.

"As one who has spent the larger part of my life being subject to torture, I would have welcomed death numerous times as a mercy!"

"Then why are you and Masaru still here? Why not make that escape together?"

"Because seeing my sons' beautiful faces negated almost all of the pain," Izumi replied. Heart looped under Izumi's arm and whispered in her ear then returned to her hand.

"What did it say?" the combustion bender asked eyeing the mysterious dragon. As Izumi opened her palm. Heart dropped something into it and then spat fire on it.

Izumi closed her hand. "Tell me who you are and I might just let you see Taemon."

"I am Horuma, a former ward of Kage Yamakatsu raised alongside P'li. I was his third creation, just after Taemon, and I'm here to rid the world of his bloodline so its seed can no longer pollute humanity!" the young woman said. Just as she powered up to strike again, Izumi flung what Heart made for her: a glass needle made from sand the dragon collected from the ground on his way back to her. The needle flew through the blast and stuck the combustion bender in the forehead, stunning her temporarily as Izumi ducked to safety. Izumi kicked the woman in the jaw knocking her unconscious then looked to the dragons and sighed with relief, then regret. "Call Saru," she told Heart "For cleanup". The dragon looked up, bowed its head in understanding and vanished. She went back to Taemon's cell. "Did you hear her?"

"Every word?"

"Is it true?"

"Mrs Feng- I mean- Fire Lord Izumi. You know all I knew about living with Kage Yamakatsu. He had me perform forms for his guests at dinner parties then sent me to my room. I didn't even know about P'li until I read his diaries when I was eighteen, and never did he mention Horuma in those writings." Taemon replied.

Izumi sighed. If Horuma was telling the truth, where has she been all this time?

* * *

The sound of a fleet of Satomobiles roaring closer replaced the sound of an army of eelhounds coming closer as among the most unpleasant sounds Izumi could hear in the night. She had already checked on Tetsu, Tatsu, and the rest of the inmates in the prison by the time Masaru arrived with her elite guard, some members of the Amber League, Imperial Firebenders, the man slated to take over the next shift for the killed guard, and a couple of police officers and detectives.

"Izumi, I told you to wait! I would have gone with you if you could have just refrained until morning-" Masaru said, pulling Izumi into a bone crushing hug.

"Taemon would have been dead if I had waited," Izumi said, stepping aside revealing the unconscious combustionbender with the needle in her forehead and her two blacked out accomplices.

"She claims to be Horuma, a second ward of Kage Yamakatsu who was younger than P'li and Taemon- She wanted to kill Taemon so that his seed could not pollute humanity with Kage's genetics," Izumi informed Masaru. His face fell.

"Genkei, Tadashi, Please see the Fire Lord back to the Palace-" Masaru ordered, handing Izumi off to her guard.

"What- Saru- no! Don't send me away! I need to know more! Do not exclude me from this investigation."

"You have been out long enough, Zumiya. Go home and get some rest. If you're well enough to be traipsing about the capitol and getting into prison fights, then you can preside over the hearings tomorrow morning! The sooner we get all of this over with the sooner we can move on."

Hiryur and Tadashi had to push her into the backseat of a custom satomobile with a completely insulated back seat that would, in theory, keep the prisoner from burning or incapacitating the driver in any way. She glared out and up at her fiance with a dangerous fury, but he didn't react. He never did. He was one of the only ones who could stand against her- he and two of their sons.

* * *

 _A/N Sorry this took soooooo long! Had trouble with the phone calls during the conference and if they should be made during the conference or after the conference and seating and protocol or scrapping that because three (or is it four) of the world leaders are all in the same family by marriage? I don't remember. Thanks for reading, anyone who is still reading this! *inserts heart* as always, all feedback is greatly appreciated._


	53. 2,23 Taking Blame

Izumi sat in her office in her nightgown with her hair down. She had Genkei deliver the files that would be reviewed by the jury, the judge and the international tribunal that had been assembled to deal with the international child-trafficking components of the case. Her heart sunk with every page she turned. Charges included exploitation of private and public resources, local resources, interception and theft of national and international supply lines, obstruction of justice, interference with police activity, maiming, murder, mental and physical abuse… the list went on as Izumi read. She read statements from the seemingly endless list of plaintiffs about how their resources and services were extorted throughout the over a decade long process that began when Taemon received access to his father's estate.

 _KAGE!_

Izumi ran her fingers through her hair and looked at the fireplace in her office and glared. She remembered reading Kage's diaries, his fantasies about a free and connected world. She should have burned that diary years ago, Taemon would have never known, never been corrupted by them. She concentrated on the fire in the hearth and grew it until it reached the top of the chimney, then stopped before it sucked all of the oxygen from the room.

She turned in her chair to face the entire set of Fire Nation Laws that she had conveniently shelved in the piece of furniture behind her. Charge...death. Charge... death. Charge… death. Every crime that did not result in a conviction involving death saw a lifetime of imprisonment instead. She slammed the massive legal code shut and leaned her head on it. Why, with all the power in the world, did she always feel so helpless?

There was a knock. "Who is it?" Izumi asked weakly.

"Mother, it's only me. May I enter?" came Sasuke's voice.

"Of course, darling," Izumi replied, replacing the law book on the shelf behind her. "How'd you find my office? I don't think you've ever been in this part of the palace before."

"Father gave me directions. He had a hunch you weren't returning to bed tonight and thought I could help," Sasuke replied with a shrug as he took a seat in the chair across from her.

"There's nothing we can do," Izumi replied. "Nothing that wouldn't be highly unethical, which I simply cannot do."

"Can't or won't do?" Sasuke asked.

Izumi frowned. "I am not like the current Earth Queen. They may be my sons, but they are still Fire Nation Citizens who must abide by the laws of our country. My hands are just as tied."

"Are you sure?"

"You're a lawyer. You probably have the books memorized," Izumi said, glancing over her shoulder at the shelf behind her.

"I do," he confirmed, waiting for a response. When none came, he spoke again. "Mother, why do you want to help them escape death?"

"Because it would be such a waste. I've abhorred the death sentence since the day I could read. This may be a twisted way to think of things, but I think it must take a brilliant mind to plan and execute such large-scale crimes and be able to get away with them for such long periods of time. I feel like… if they had better guidance- if I were there for them- they could have used their brilliance for good. I mean… I want to believe that they meant well, but all of the evidence and their lack of remorse goes against that," Izumi replied, indicating the piles of papers documenting her children's crimes.

"Tetsu and Tatsu were my baby brothers," Sasuke began. "I want to help them too, but I can't. Only you."

"How?" Izumi asked.

"There is a way, but it is risky," Sasuke said.

"Tell me."

"Volume Fourteen. Chapter 30, Article Nine, Section 28," Sasuke said.

Izumi pulled out the heavy, dust-covered book and fanned through the pages. "It's the Rights, Powers, and Limits of the Fire Lord," She realized, looking up at Sasuke.

"Since the entire volume only pertains to one person in the entire country, it's rarely ever taught even in law school. The masses assume the Fire Lord has absolute power-"

"But it's not true, my Father told me that much... because the power lies with the people," Izumi replied, searching for Chapter Thirty… Article 9.

"But still you have far more powers than you think you do, Mother," Sasuke replied. "So many traditions that we think are laws, aren't. They're just… traditions."

Izumi began reading.

"I believe it is sections 28-30 that can be of use to you tomorrow. Try to get some sleep, Mother. You'll need it if you do go through with this, and if you want, I can be beside you. I've decided to accept legitimacy. The association with you will hurt my business but only for a short while. My current clients should know me well enough by now to trust what I do despite the secrets we both have been keeping." Sasuke stood. "Goodnight, Mother."

"Goodnight, Little Love," Izumi replied. "And… thank you."

* * *

Tetsuya woke to the sound of the lock to his cell clicking open without the rustling of keys.

"Just go back to the palace, Mother, before Father gets angry," Tetsuya groaned, closing his eyes again.

"I'm not your mother, dumbass," a girl's voice replied surly.

Tetsuya sat up in surprise and turned to find his 18-year-old baby sister standing outside his cell.

"Yoko!" Tetsuya exclaimed.

"Don't call me that." Miyoko snapped.

"What are you doing here?"

"I needed to see you."

"How did you get in here?"

"Easily, but that's hardly relevant."

"Then why are you here? What do you want from me?"

"I want to know how you did it. How did you come so close to beating the formidable Fire Lord Izumi?"

"Why? So you and your little classmates can try to succeed where we failed?"

"No. We're not stupid enough to try to challenge her on a battlefield."

"Then why do you need to know?"

"I want to know your methods so I can decide if your life is worth saving tomorrow. Mother, though much more honorable than Suyin Beifong, is still just a mother when it comes to us. She will try to save you from the punishment you deserve, and I need to know if I should stop her or the judges and jurors from complying."

Tetsuya laughed. "Do you really think you have that much power over our mother and the courts?"

"Knowledge is power, Tetsuya. I know Mother only ever wanted to find peace, both in herself and in her nation. I also know Mother is a staunch believer in the teachings of Avatar Kyoshi. She probably chanted in your youth as well as mine that only justice can bring peace. Now should I remind her of that little saying, or let her proceed?"

"Do you want my death, Miyoko? For hurting your little handler?"

"No. Only justice by whatever means necessary. I know our mother will have difficulty processing what that entails, but the Fire Lord in her will thank you later."

"That's where you're wrong, Yoko. The mother in her will never recover from the loss of another child. She still grovels over the loss of Gansu, to this day. That mother will prevail over the Fire Lord, which will be Takeo soon anyways. Technicalities aside, what do you care of the Fire Lord? I thought you despised her and wanted her gone."

"Gone does not mean dead. The Fire Lord is still our mother and I would not let you kill her."

"I didn't want to either, but she would have died a martyr, a sacrifice for a noble cause-"

"Like Xiaoyu, Huifan, and Me?"

"We didn't want to kill you either. We wanted you to join us. Huifan's strength and adaptability, Xiaoyu's compassion, and your intellect would have been valuable assets to our team."

"So that's all we are to you? Assets? Human capital to exploit? You're a selfish man not worth saving. Thank you for clearing that up in my mind-" Miyoko decided, turning to leave.

"No! Yoko, I didn't mean it like that!"

"You made a mistake targeting me for my intellect, because I could see right through your lies the entire time. Thanks for trying to play the shitty game we call life, dear brother. Unfortunately, you've lost this time-"

"All I've done was for the good of the family. We could have led the next Industrial Age and rebuilt the strength of the Fire Nation—every sacrifice I've made would have benefited us all!"

"You're wrong. Your treatment of those crossovers would have created vengeful monsters who wish for nothing but our deaths, if it hasn't already! You're a disgrace for to our parents, who are already leading the next Industrial Age with Earthen Fire Companies. Get some sleep, Tetsuya. Spirits know you'll need it for tomorrow," Miyoko said, sweeping out of his cell.

* * *

At precisely 10AM the next day, the trial was called to session. Izumi entered the room last to find everyone standing. She bowed to them and they bowed back, still not knowing those being tried were her sons. She sat upon her throne with Sasuke only a few feet away, just off the dais. "Do you know what you are going to say when?" He asked.

"Yes," Izumi replied in a whisper. Sasuke nodded and turned his gaze forward. In the audience were Lin, Xiaoyu, Tenzin, Suyin, Baatar, and Kya on a row with Sunako, Miyoko, and Xiaoyu behind them. All of them along with at least three dozen families of victims of the Rogue operation wanted to speak against Taemon and the twins.

"I, Justice Etsuji Morishita call this court to order!" the judge yelled, banging his gavel. Izumi took a deep breath and closed her hands over her knees. Tatsuya was brought in first.

"We shall now commence the hearing for Tatsuya Lee, born on the 18th of February in the year 146AG, aged 29 years. Charges are as follows: 984 accounts of assault and battery… 23 accounts of premeditated murder-"

"I gave the orders but never killed so many!" Tatsuya yelled.

"Lies!" a young lady in the audience yelled.

"SILENCE!" The chief justice bellowed. Izumi winced. "The hands of a man who gives the orders are no cleaner than the ones of he who swings the sword." He looked down at the paper before him. "- 42 accounts of second-degree assisted murder, 189 accounts of theft, 12 accounts of extortion of public services, 2 accounts of fraud, 9 accounts of money laundering under the guise of charity and countless instances of bloodbending... How do you plead?"

"Innocent of 20 accounts of premeditated, first-degree murder, 40 of the accounts of second-degree murder, all accounts of theft, fraud, and money laundering. Guilty of all accounts of assault and battery, probably more depending on when you started counting for the sake of this trial and of bloodbending," Tatsuya replied.

"But sir, you said you were a firebender-"

"I was both, before I got my bending taken away," Tatsuya said bitterly.

"Bending taken away?" the Justice asked. "By whom?"

"Fire Lord Izumi," Tatsuya replied, looking up at his mother.

"That is Impossible. The Fire Lord—"

"—CAN and did take away his and his accomplices' bending away. Proceed," Izumi interrupted sharply.

The judge cleared his throat and called witnesses to stand. Some couldn't bear to finish their stories. Tatsuya remained, sitting with his eyes closed and fists clenched.

Most testimonies were routine. The only disturbing part was the fact that there were so many.

"How do you feel, Mr. Lee?" a juror asked.

"What sort of a question is that supposed to be?"

"Do you feel anything? Remorse? Regret? Anger?"

"Annoyance. I may be a criminal but I am not ignorant. I have confessed to two accounts of murder, however many charges of assault you've found and numerous other crimes. One murder without the rest is enough to condemn me, so why haven't you? Why bother drawing this out?" Tatsuya asked impatiently. Izumi sighed.

"Even if you did confess to the crime presented here today, we must still assess if you acted on your own accord or if you were coerced-"

"I wasn't coerced in any way. I believed in the cause my brothers pursued. I wanted to deplete the world of all those who seek to inhibit entirely or slow our industrial, societal, and physical progress as a species," Tatsuya recited. The entire room fell silent, and the judge didn't protest, so Tatsuya continued. "We knew we would be dismissed if we three acted alone, so we conscripted those fellow superiors who possessed the same abilities that we did and grew an army to make a stand against the totalitarian regimes that do nothing but place limits on us. We are not advocates for anarchy, but for freedom with limits and for those limits to be regularly reassessed and changed." Tatsuya said.

….

"... they replaced caution with paranoia, love with hate, they tortured children as young as eight, manipulated scores of people they collected into thinking all parents are overbearing and enemies of society. They tried to convince their people that limits were superficial and a direct inhibitor to progress. They started a war with the mindset of a spiteful adolescent!" Miyoko told the judges and the jury. She spoke with the fervor of a true politician. She could sway the minds of tens of thousands of college students across the nation at her organization's rallies. Convincing the courtroom of her brothers' guilt, by comparison, was easy.

Izumi closed her eyes. She heard the anger in her daughter's voice, could see the hate in her eyes as she spoke on behalf of Xiaoyu and Sunako. She recounted the events leading up to Xiaoyu's stabbing and informed the court of how Taemon and Tetsu "unlocked" spiritual projection in the seventeen year old airbender. With anger she recalled how they threatened to make her mother watch her death if she didn't lie for them. Miyoko told them how Sunako came to be maimed, including the exact words spoken by Taemon and Tetsu that night. She told them how Taemon conjured that blood monster to terrify her mother into blaming the only known bloodbender in the room, her best friend and handler, for the plight. Unlike most of the other plaintiffs and witnesses, Miyoko did not breakdown and cry. The judge raised his hand and she fell silent immediately, waiting for a decision. Instead, he called a recess and retreated to a room off the hall while the jurors left to the other.

Xiaoyu sat between Lin Beifong and Tenzin Yeshe. Sunako sat beside Miyoko and Tadashi. Genkei and Huifan stood along the wall. Everyone waited. For some strange reason, they even let Taemon stay in the courtroom during the break, guards flanking. Did they overlook protocol or did they just not care anymore figuring that with so many reknown warriors from all nations, any escape effort would have been futile?

After the judge returned, Tetsu and Tatsu were also brought in and lined up. They'd be sentenced together.

"I, Chief Justice Etsuji Morishita call this session back to order at 13h20," the judge yelled, banging his gavel on the block. "For their crimes against humanity, the jury has unanimously decided that Taemon Yamakatsu, Tetsuya Lee and Tatsuya Lee shall all be sentenced to death by beheading..." the judge announced, raising his gavel. Tatsu leaned his head back with a frustrated sigh while both Tetsu and Taemon accepted their fate.

Before the gavel could crack down on the block, it was blasted apart into splinters from behind. The judge turned around in shock to find the Fire Lord standing with her hand raised towards him and her eyes closed, face turned away.

"My Lord?" The judge asked.

Sasuke drew a deep breath, praying that his mother could stick to the original plan.

"I invoke my right to overrule your decision." Izumi said, her face grim. "As Fire Lord, it is my duty to uphold justice and act in a way that best suits the interest of my nation, which is why I would like to advocate for a sentence of lifetime surveillance and servitude for these three. They will lose all rights of citizenship and become property of the state, providing labor wherever and whenever we see fit. They've proven themselves aware and, quite frankly, they possess some of the most brilliant minds ever seen in this courtroom. Their deaths would be a waste of human potential.

"Their aims were to grant more freedom to the new generation to explore, experiment, strengthen and drive progress our nation. They wanted to reduce the limitations set in our society. All goals are commendable, but they erred in their methodology. I firmly believe that they had good intentions since the beginning and only lacked the necessary guidance and that fault lies with me," Izumi said.

Murmurs broke out in the courtroom.

"What?"

"Why?"

"How could the Fire Lord take blame for these traitors?"

Izumi took a deep breath and opened her eyes, addressing the crowd. "As their _**mother**_ , I made the mistake of not sufficiently fostering their interests and talents. I was smothering, made them feel suffocated, limited, and they lashed out. I failed to satisfy their desire to be heard and single-handedly created the monsters that committed this heinous crimes—"

Every pair of eyes in the courtroom went wide with shock except Masaru's and Sasuke's who closed and Miyoko's who narrowed in anger.

"No—" Tetsuya yelled, pleaded, his voice hoarse with desperation.

"Don't do this!" Tatsu yelled. "Don't sacrifice yourself for our actions. We've already accepted the consequences—"

"Judge, I beg of you, don't listen to her! She's lying—" Taemon yelled.

"She's the Fire Lord— and if says she is your mother and responsible—" the judge shrugged.

"We have no mother—" Tatsuya spat.

"We are the bastards of Earthen Fire and we acted on our own accord!" Tatsuya insisted turning to the executioner, who took up place behind him. "Swing the sword already!"

"Executioners, law down your weapons or you will be the ones burned!" Izumi ordered over them over the outrage in the court, raising a hand, threatening flames.

"SILENCE!" The judge yelled, banging his fist in place of the gavel.

Everyone quieted down. For a few moments, there was silence, then the sound of footsteps on a wooden table.

"FIRE LORD IZUMI!" Miyoko yelled, from upon a table. She bowed with tears in her eyes. "When I was a girl, _my mother_ always insisted that _only justice can bring peace_ … But she's dead to me now."

"Yoko!" Masaru reached for his daughter's arm, but it was gone. The girl ran, leaping off of the table and out the double doors of the courtroom.

"Yoko!" Izumi yelled, sprinting after her daughter while Masaru struggled to get out of the crowded row of chairs.

Miyoko ran out the front doors of the courtroom into a field of waiting reporters, pushing them aside, covering her face and crying eyes as she fought to get away. Her mother wouldn't dare follow her into a crowd and risk exposure especially after claiming three fully convicted traitors as blood.

Izumi threw open the double doors of the courtroom with such a force, that it blew a couple of reporters off their feet, her hands leaving behind small trails of blue flames in their wake.

"Fire Lord Izumi! What is happening?"

"Fire Lord Izumi, has a verdict been reached?"

"Fire Lord Izumi, who are you chasing!"

"Fire Lord Izumi—"

"Fire Lord—"

Izumi ignored them. All she could think of was her daughter— her darling girl— her youngest, smallest baby— the sweetest thing— her world, shattering.

Izumi pushed past the reporters and forced her way through the crowd trying to get to her daughter as her guards desperately tried to restrain her. She launched herself up onto a large man's shoulders and ran lightly across the heads of the civilians below trying to get to her daughter. Miyoko jumped onto the roofs and ran with her arms straight behind her, fully prepared to outrun her mother. Izumi climbed a pole and jumped from it to the rooftops, closing the distance between them quickly.

* * *

Back in the courtroom, chaos reigned. In the confusion some of the families of witnesses and plaintiffs had started crying, terrified by being in the presence of their former captor's without the physical protection of the Fire Lord.

"Miyoko still doubts our intentions," Tatsuya whispered to his brothers.

"She leaving would destroy Mother more than our deaths ever could," Tetsuya replied.

"Tsuya," Taemon hissed. "Go. Change her mind! You're the only one who can. You're the only one who knows her!"

Tetsuya waited until he was certain everyone was too distracted to notice and bent forward lifting his chained hands above his head to his front, rolling his double-jointed shoulders completely and kicked the chain apart and then broke into a run after his mother and sister.

"Hey! Stop!" a prison guard yelled, pursuing the escapee. "We have a runner! I repeat! He's trying to escape!"

"He's not, I swear it!" Taemon yelled for what it was worth.

Masaru finally got out of the row and to Genkei by the wall. "Call Hiryur and Tadashi and the constable. Meet me by the west exit in precisely sixteen seconds! We're going after them but follow my lead!" Masaru ordered.

Genkei nodded and rushed to round up who they needed.

* * *

"Give up on me already. Give up like you did the day I was born! I'm NEVER coming back!" Yoko yelled, breathless and seething with rage.

"I will NEVER give up on you!" Izumi yelled, sending a bolt of dark lightning her way to try to calm her. Miyoko returned it, amplifying the voltage with the intention of causing pain. Izumi dove forward to avoid it as it tore through the roof top. "Yoko please." Izumi begged, bowing to her daughter.

"Why? You gave up on me the moment you shut me away in those walls. I was a fucking CHILD! What type of mother forbid their child from ever even uttering her own mother's name?" Miyoko replied

"They would have killed you!" Izumi replied.

"Only because you would have let them! You're the fucking Fire Lord! You just threatened to barbecue the royal executioners for honorably doing their jobs killing your treacherous sons, but you wouldn't even challenge the Fire Sages for the freedom of your loyal daughters?" Miyoko wiped her face and laughed. "Why am I even surprised? You always did value the boys in our family more than the girls. Just like the Fire Sages and the old conservative nobles. How ironic could it be that maybe, just maybe, Taemon and Tetsu were right about something? You're not interested in progress, only sable routine— tradition if it resulted in peace."

"That's not true, Yoko!"

"Oh, really? Then why are we trying three of our family members for crimes against the nation? Crimes that, had you ever actually given a damn about me, would NEVER have occurred!"

"Yoko, I'm sorry," Izumi sobbed, holding her head down.

"Bullshit! If you were, you would have changed, but you don't. You never do!" Miyoko yelled with tears streaming down her face. "The worst part is, it took me this long to realize you never will."

"Yoko," someone said behind the eighteen-year-old. She whirled around and saw Tetsuya standing on the rooftop behind with both hands up in surrender, broken handcuffs dangling from his wrists. Miyoko raised one hand up to him and one hand to her mother in case either came an inch closer to her.

"They'll kill you for escaping." Miyoko stated, her voice wavering.

"Then so be it," Tetsuya shrugged, looking her directly in her amber eyes with his golden ones. "I was never afraid." he said, stepping away from her. "I have always been loyal to this family and only too willing to make sacrifices for its well being. I have erred and you have every right to be livid, but not at our mother. I never asked her to try to save me. I was ready to accept any consequence the state saw fit, and I think she is insane for intervening. Alas, her decision has been made and cannot be undone. But if it is my death you wanted out of this trial for your friend's maiming, your cousin's sake, and your exploitation, then I shall grant it, but under one condition," Tetsuya said, taking another step back from Miyoko. He kicked a shingle off the back and waited and listened as it fell, bounced, and kept falling. They were on a rooftop, at the edge of the city, right by a drop off over a hundred feet high. "Stay… and take care of our dear Mother for me." He closed his eyes, feeling the wind through his waist-length, jet-black, shining hair and his loose prison garb and sighed.

"Tsuya—" Izumi said warningly.

"She can do without a wayward son, but not without her most beloved daughter," he opened his eyes one last time to take one last glance at his baby sister's face before leaning back, and falling, head first into the void.

"No!"

Without hesitating, Izumi and Miyoko both dove off the rooftop and grabbed his arms, using their bending to propel themselves back up to safety. They landed on the road in a ring of blue fire from Izumi, both overwhelmed. Miyoko and Tetsuya remained kneeling side by side, breathing heavily while Izumi sprung to her feet, pacing with rage. She turned to the children, her eyes practically blazing with fury as her gaze descended on her wayward son. She strode right past her daughter and with her entire body, slapped the son across the face, his jaw cracking slightly out of place.

"You insolent boy! How could you be so stupid!" Izumi shrieked, running her fingers through her hair. It was streaking and then turned completely blue. "How dare you make such an offer! You have erred greatly on your own accord, but pulling a stunt like that would have put your death on your sister's hands! She's just a girl!"

"If it would have kept you two together, then I am willing make that sacrifice! Besides, I'd be doing the world a favor! You heard the courts! I'm a danger-!"

"No more than I am!" Izumi yelled, smacking him again with her other hand.

"Mother! People are starting to gather!" Yoko whimpered, finally noticing the combination of press and Fire Nation Capital denizens encircling them. Izumi looked over her shoulder at the oncoming crowd and snarled before making higher walls out the ring of blue fire to give them more privacy as she continued pacing back and forth seething with rage. Yoko hung her head with guilt. If she had never run, they wouldn't be publicly tainting the family image with such displays of imperfection.

"I'm sorry, Yoko, for putting you in this situation. I didn't mean to—"

"Shut it!" Yoko snapped at her brother.

There was the sound of feet running across the rooftops and Masaru arrived with Genkei, Tadashi, and Hiryur in tow as well as several police officers and the constable. Masaru motioned for them to wait and jumped into Izumi's ring of fire, glancing down at the two children that remained kneeling with their heads bowed before their parents, Yoko sniffling, and Tetsuya still and unreactive.

"What happened here?" Masaru demanded, his voice low.

"Father, I-" Tetsuya began to say nervously, but Masaru lifted a hand to silence him and turned to Izumi.

"He thought that by giving Yoko his live he could satisfy her enough to stay with us foolishly thinking that was what something she even wanted anymore," Izumi spat.

Yoko winced at how cold the words sounded. She didn't wish for his death exactly, only justice. If the courts called for his head, then—

"Father, you must understand, I was and still am willing to make every sacrifice for the betterment of the family, I didn't mean to hurt her or Mother in any way— I was thinking of future generations of-"

 _ **WHACK!**_ The blow echoed off the rooftops and sent Tetsuya from his knees to the ground. Unlike the blows he received from his mother, this one actually hurt. He spat out blood from a busted lip and felt one tooth become a little loose. He would have to have it removed, most likely.

"Don't bother trying to convince us of your benevolence. Hands above your head, boy," Masaru ordered, not looking at Tetsuya. Tetsuya lifted his hands and kneeled again. Izumi turned away and folded her arms, letting Masaru deal with their children for once. She couldn't watch. "Stand." And he stood. Masaru motioned for the police personnel to come down from the rooftops of the buildings that flanked the street, and the car to come closer. Masaru grabbed his son and walked him over to one of the officers.

"How'd you break the chain boy, without your bending?" the police officer asked.

"Platinum or not, bent chain links are weak. I recommend welding them closed at least," Tetsuya replied. It was a shame, truly, for such an intelligent and logical boy to be reduced to a convict in chains.

The policeman frowned and slapped a new pair over Tetsuya's bruised wrists and removed the broken ones.

Masaru wrapped his arms around Izumi and rubbed her shoulders as she cried for her children. He whispered words to her that Yoko couldn't hear, but whatever he said must have calmed her. The blue of her mother's hair darkened with every second that passed until finally, it was black again. Then they turned their attention to her.

"Mother I—" Miyoko began to speak.

"Let me go first." Izumi asked. "Yoko, you are an incredibly intelligent girl with a good heart and a beautiful mind who deserves the world. It was unfair of me to continue to try to keep you here against your will under the guise of protection. I was selfish to keep you for so long, and I am sorry," Izumi drew a breath and squeezed Masaru's hand for support. "You are legally of age and no longer tied to us in any way."

"Mother—"

"So do as you wish. If you want to leave, I will not try to make you stay." Izumi finished. She drew a breath and turned, quickly walking away before more tears fell from her already wet face. Masaru bent down and kissed his daughter on the head, running her fingers through her long dark hair one last time.

"Father I-" Miyoko whimpered, confused.

"You're free to do as you choose, Sweetheart. It was unfair of us to keep trying to chain you. Fly, my little dragon," Masaru whispered before turning and following his fiancée away from the scene.

Miyoko blinked tears away from her face as she remained crouched on the ground, paralyzed by guilt and regret, and fear of something. For so long all she had wanted was freedom. But now? She was a burden all over again, a mistake, and an impediment to her mother's ability to execute her duties. She was a distraction, a pain, an unnecessary extra mouth to feed, a waste of time and space...

"MISS! What just happened?" a reporter demanded.

"Miss, what is your relation to the Fire Lord and Mr. Masaru Lee of Earthen Fire Companies!" another asked.

"Miss! Were you a victim of the escaped convict?" a third inquired.

"Miss, were you at all involved with the recent skirmish?"

"Are you an illegitimate child of them both?"

"Miss-"

"Miss-"

"MISS!"

"Is your name Yoko or is Yoko short for something?"

 _What was happening?_ Her elbows gave way, and she collapsed on her knees and forearms wallowing in pain and grief.

Miyoko panicked. She wasn't supposed to be seen by strangers in this capacity. The childhood fear of the consequences returned. _The Fire Sages! They'll hear of me, take me away, kill me, and destroy my Mother!_ Miyoko looked up. She couldn't see her parents. Only the flashing lights of the cameras that surrounded her.

She screamed with trembling arms and a shaking body, her head and her heart both pounded violently. She became overwhelmed with anxiety and saw her arms and legs become engulfed in green flames.

"MAAAA!" she screamed. The two tendrils that hung from the sides of her face had also become engulfed by the flames but they weren't burning. "MAMA, HELP ME!"

 _What was happening?!_ She was hyperventilating, her arms wrapped around her torso and she rocked, a couple of times. She wiped her face and screamed louder.

"Mother! Don't leave me here! Please! I'll be good! I promise! I won't run! I won't leave! Just please come back to me-"

The photographers and reporters began to move away as the flames grew around her. She looked up and saw their fear-filled faces through a green lens, a green flame. And then she was there, Her mother returned with her arms wide open and her father standing over her, face fraught with concern.

"Shhhh…" Even through the roaring flames, and screaming civilians, Miyoko heard her soft, soothing voice.

Izumi, immune to the flames, wrapped her arms around her daughter and bent lightning to ease some of the pain. Masaru placed a hand on her head and the green fire vanished as Masaru bent his fatherly dragon into her head to seek out her Pain and Fear and attack it. But as soon as he removed his hand, the green flames returned. Both had become too powerful inside of her.

"Breathe, it's only your inner flame," Izumi whispered. "Shhhh... we're here. We'll protect you as long as you want us to, always," Izumi said, rubbing her back, moving to hide her daughter's face from view. Miyoko closed her eyes in the darkness, her head against her mother's chest.

Miyoko grasped the sides of Izumi's coat, pulling herself closer, trying to bury herself in her mother's body. Masaru served as their eyes as they walked to a waiting car. Once inside with the shutters drawn over the window, Izumi let out her inner flame, turning her hair blue and Masaru turned his red.

"You'll always have a home," Izumi said, holding her daughter's hands, stroking her flaming green hair.

"Mother, what's happening?" Miyoko asked panickedly, still seeing green hair.

"You're inner fire is just coming out, darling. It's nothing to be afraid of." Izumi said, trying in vain to be reassuring.

"One of your dragons has overwhelmed the others and can no longer be contained by your spirit alone," Masaru explained.

Miyoko trembled. It was fear. Fear of being seen. Fear of being known, of being vulnerable. Fear of being alone. She remembered the walls, the grates, her first time firebending. She remembered Grandma Mai passing her onto her mother. "You cannot hurt them."

 _Oh but I have, Grandma Mai! More than you could know. I was a mistake. I was never supposed to exist in the first place. I was such a late baby that I only ever could be a burden. Doomed from the start—_

She started sobbing even harder as her thoughts ate her alive.

Izumi looked up helplessly at Masaru. She didn't want to go into her daughter's head, but she would have to if her daughter was ever going to breathe again. Masaru nodded in approval. _Do it._

"I won't take anything, I promise," Izumi said, lifting her hands to either side of her daughter's head. The girl looked up with those same sad eyes she had as a young child, and nodded. Izumi touched a hand on either side of her daughter's head and mapped her nervous system. Her brain and followed the synapses being fired, feeling her daughter's memories and which ones were being recalled at that moment.

 _She saw herself walking away, saying, "I'm sorry," and fading to black. She saw her first day of school and the bullies who called her the bastard of Earthen Fire Refineries. She saw them suggest Yoko's mother was a harlot or a maid, their laughter and fingers pointed her way. She saw the dragons Ran and Shaw encircling her trembling daughter, dancing with her while she went through the motions of the classical form with tears streaming down from her eyes._

" _She didn't come! She said she wouldn't and didn't! I could have died, Father! I could have died and wouldn't have even been able to yell goodbye because she wasn't here!" Miyoko screamed into his father's chest, distressed as the sun Warriors looked on. One of the female Sun Warriors lifted her hands in the same way Izumi did to Miyoko's Head and with a non-burning flame, soothed her._

 _Through Miyoko's eyes the Fire Lord saw a headline for Princess Izumi venturing to the United Republic, striking a deal with somebody. She grabbed the newspaper, paid the vendor and went to a park._

" _So that's where you go?" She spat. "To shake hands with fancy men in fancy coats?" She crumpled the paper, stomped on it and then sat, covering her head in her lap as she cried._

" _Why the long face?" An eerie voice asked from the side. Miyoko looked up and saw some massive ruffian looming over her. She screamed and ran, burning him. He had friends. They chased her in an alleyway._

" _Leave me alone!" Miyoko screamed with her arms outstretched with open palms._

" _After we're done with you," the man replied, looking up at the rooftops where more men waited._

 _Miyoko closed her eyes and created a sphere of green and blue fire shielding herself from them. They were open again all they saw were the charred remains of the gang. She fled the scene, sat in silence at the dinner table alone as the reporter on the radio talked about the police finding over a dozen bodies burned beyond recognition in an alleyway surrounding a completely unscathed piece of pavement where they suspected was where a very powerful firebender had been very angry. She cried once again. This time, not even Father was home to comfort her._

 _Miyoko went to her club meetings, made a friend to whom she felt like she could tell everything. Those distracted her for a time, but then Izumi saw more headlines and more burning papers as the child's hate for the Fire Princess grew and grew with the longing for her mother._

" _Maybe they were right. I'm not hers. Maybe she's lying like every other time before..." Miyoko thought as she worked on her essay about the Politics of the Fire Princess just as Izumi entered the room behind her and she turned._

" _Why would I risk my reputation, my family's name, trying to make up for lost time if you weren't mine?" Izumi asked._

 _Yoko's cheeks burned. She must always consider Mother's reputation._

 _And for a night, they were a family again. But then... the Princess became the Fire Lord and Miyoko lost her again. She sat alone, waiting to eat dinner._

" _Sunako, join me. Neither will come," she said sadly. All of her memories with Sunako playing pai sho, attending symphonies, sword fighting, learning some stringed instrument together. Learning to play the tsungi horn. Walking through the palace gardens. "I have to go prepare my reports."_

" _If you see my mother, tell her I miss her," Miyoko asked her handler. That night while Sunako and Miyoko slept, Taemon and the twins invaded. Izumi saw her daughter dive into the grates. Then more blackness, more dinners alone. She was still just a child and all she'd ever known was being alone. Even when she had friends at school, she could tell them nothing._

No wonder her inner fire broke free. Her spirit could not bear any more grief. She said she wanted to leave because she felt betrayed. She wanted attention, to be noticed again and seeing both parents accept that and walk away that day, gave the Fear the last of her energy to explode.

When Izumi opened her eyes, she saw her daughter perfectly still, and felt her husband's hand on her shoulder. He had been watching too, through her. He was crying too.

"How can we ever make it up to you?" Izumi asked with tears dripping from her pointed chin.

"I'm not sure you can," Miyoko replied, laying her mother's head in her lap and closing her eyes.

Izumi bent over her daughter. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

Back at the palace, Masaru sent away the guards and helped his fiancée and daughter to the Fire Lord's Room.

"You sleep with Yoko. I'll probably be late anyways and don't want to wake you in the night," Masaru told Izumi, for Yoko's sake. Izumi was a heavy sleeper and he never did wake her when he came to bed late or left early. She nodded and set about taking down her daughter's hair for bed despite it being early afternoon. She knew the girl would be drained. One's inner fire was all consuming.

* * *

Masaru found his free children gathered in one of the royal parlors without all of their cousins, aunts and uncles.

"What happened out there?" Ursa asked.

"We heard rumors but of course, we never trust them," Iroh added.

"Yoko's inner fire came out," Masaru informed all of them as he collapsed on the couch nearest to the hearth. His anxiety fueled the already roaring fire.

"Is she okay?" Ursa asked.

"Did it hurt her?" Takeo inquired.

"Hopefully not as much as her memories," Masaru said, combing his flaming red hair with his fingers. "But I guess we'll find out in the morning." Masaru let out a heavy sigh and released his six dragons. He too was done hiding. The children all stiffened as the dragons took up camp around the parlor. "You can touch them. They won't burn as long as I don't tell them to. They should be warm, like bathwater."

"How's Mum?" Rikuto asked, sticking a hand curiously into his father's dragon nearby him. It raised an annoyed brow at the earthbender.

"I told your mother to sleep with Yoko tonight. Hopefully her presence can calm her down at least a little."

"Uncle, did she actually grow up in the walls of the palace?" Iroh asked.

"She had to. We saw no other way to hide her," Masaru replied.

Ursa sighed and looked into the fire. "It is such a terrible fate to condemn a child to."

"We didn't want to make the same mistake we made with you. Watching the instructors at the Royal Academy abuse you was torture to us. We couldn't bear the thought of subjecting Yoko to the same fate," Masaru explained.

"But I escaped. I ran and traveled and made discoveries. I was still alone, like Yoko, but at least I saw people. I wasn't just trapped with my own thoughts behind the metal fixings in the wall, treated like I was worth less than mouse-rats that are never to be heard or seen."

"The Fire Sages wanted her head ever since they found out about her," Masaru replied. "Claimed she was even a bigger, darker stain on the family tree than our first five children combined. I'm sure it didn't help that she was the only illegitimate girl, and born frighteningly small."

"She must have been so lonely," Ursa cried.

"Is Tetsuya alive at least? We saw him running after Ma and Yoko," Rikuto asked.

"He should be with Taemon and Tatsu back at the prison," Masaru replied. "He offered his death to Yoko in exchange for a promise that she'd stay with your mother."

"Spirits!"

"'Willing to make sacrifices for the good of the family' my ass, where did we go wrong shaping his perception of what exactly are acceptable sacrifices?" Masaru asked, running his hands through his hair again, thinking back to every interaction he had with each of his children throughout the years.

"Do you want to talk about it, Father?" Takeo offered.

"I don't know anymore," Masaru replied. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold in his tears, only to find himself failing.

* * *

The next morning Masaru went to check on his ladies. Both were still asleep, Yoko wrapped up in Izumi's arms. Both of their hair was still glowing. Masaru placed a hand on each of their heads and reached for their dragons to manually calm them down. Their hair both dimmed, and faded to black. They let out a mirrored sigh and relaxed. Izumi pulled Yoko tighter and Yoko curled up smaller. He left them to continue sleeping.

"It has been over a day, Father," Sasuke said.

"I know. Inner Fire drains," Masaru replied. "Don't worry. They're just recovering. They'll be back with us soon enough."

* * *

Izumi woke first but remained by her daughter's side, stroking her temple soothingly.

"You're still here," Yoko mumbled grumpily, frowning upon feeling her mother's fingertips.

"And you're still surly," Izumi replied with a smirk, tucking her daughter's hair behind her ear and away from her beautiful heart-shaped face.

"Can't you leave now that you know I'm not dead?" Miyoko asked expectantly. "Since there's still the trial—"

"No. Yoko, I will never leave you, not unless you truly want me to," Izumi replied.

"Never?" Yoko replied cautiously.

"Can I show you something?" Izumi asked, looking down at the top of her youngest child's head.

"What is it?" Miyoko asked.

"What I see every time I look at you," Izumi replied, taking Miyoko's hand in hers and holding it up to her own head.

 _Miyoko saw her own birth. Her father getting thrown through the window off of Eiko's head. Their love, their fear. Grandfather Zuko suggesting they not name her until they were sure she'd survive. She was so small, so fragile, but her mother gripped her tighter. "She's MINE!" Izumi yelled at them, shielding Miyoko from Zuko, from Mai, even from Masaru when he expressed concern for her baby._

 _In flashes through her mother's eyes, Miyoko saw Izumi being wedded to Hisoki. The birth of Gansu— "Where is he?"— she asked when she came to._

" _He didn't make it," the healer said._

" _This is all your fault!" Hisoki yelled. Izumi jumped out of bed, pain searing through her torso._

" _He's gone," Zuko informed the family._

 _Izumi crawling up the leeward slipface of a sand dune with anger and hate boiling up inside of her, fueling this desire to kill._

" _Hisoki," she whispered. "Where are you!" She screamed as the blue flames erupted from her hands, and then the rest of her body as the hate and rage turned to fear and pain. I'm going to die here._

 _Reuniting with her son, Iroh, reuniting with Masaru- holding Takeo and seeing Iroh talk to Masaru - Rikuto crying over being an earth bender. The love for each of her children was always there._

 _Tetsuya presenting Izumi with a paper turtle duck. Ursa being born, Ursa running, laughing. The Fire Sages taking her._

" _I won't let you abuse her as you have abused me!" Izumi yelled, referring to the young princess. The tournament, getting brutally thrown down by Masaru. Them arguing afterwards._

" _It was the only way I could protect her!" Masaru yelled at her. Masaru being stern with Ursa then teaching her how to act and how to roar and him making her laugh._

 _Izumi tending her cuts and bruises after Masaru beat her in the tournament. The Fire Sages taking Ursa anyways._

" _Where is she?"_

 _The throne room bursting into flames._

 _Izumi holding an infant Miyoko again. "I lost one daughter. I will not lose another." Izumi talking to Nikoro. Miyoko's first firebending teacher after her mother. "singe a hair on her tiny head and I will not hesitate to destroy you."_

" _Yoko has no mother in her school papers." Masaru said when Izumi decided to stay, to try to spend more time with their troubled baby._

" _Call me your concubine. I don't care," Izumi said._

" _Yoko-" she breathed as she watched Miyoko say goodbye to Kami and walk over. She held a hand back, refraining from just grabbing the girl and enveloping her._

 _Miyoko could feel her mother's pain, fear, and love. And she could feel her mother's constant struggle to find balance outside and in._

 _Izumi saw the hate in the child's eyes and it crushed her heart and soul but still, she didn't show it as she walked into the classroom._

 _Later that evening or the next night, Izumi was kneeling with her head to the floor and Miyoko heard her own childish voice condescendingly saying, "I know my place in my nation, it's time you knew yours."_

 _Izumi cried alone in her room. She paced. She screamed in the shower. She pulled at her hair, then she knelt before her father. "I need this. She needs this. Let me go for a time and come back later, or try to stop me, and never see me again. Anything for_ _ **her**_ _."_

 _Izumi checking on Yoko while she sleeps. Almost every night spent crying to Masaru._

" _I still can't do anything right..."_

 _Then, what Izumi saw the night of the attempted kidnapping. My child, covered in blood. She'll carry these traumas for life, unless I— and then taking her memories._

 _And then once Miyoko was safely with Masaru, Izumi going to visit Sunako._

 _She couldn't talk or bend. Izumi held her and guided her into the spirit world where Sunako had a voice again._

" _Sunako, how can I ever repay you?"_

" _Give me another chance. Water is the element of change. I can adapt my bending to suit my handicap. I can protect Yoko again. Please!"_

 _Izumi took a deep breath and looked at the young waterbender as they stood together in the field of purple poppies under an orange sky. "You were her only friend..."_

" _And She was mine. We were like sisters, My Lord, please, let me come back!"_ " _I will. I promise." Izumi holding Sunako with shaking hands. Sunako leaving to the South Pole. Anatomy sketches of human hands, hundreds of them. She got a room at one of Earthen Fire's refineries._ " _I need wires." Wrong conductivity... poisonous... heavy, and then a hand._ " _My love, you need sleep," Masaru said, wrapping his arms around Izumi. She pushed him away. She worked on the hands, packed them in velvet. "I'll be gone a week," she told Masaru and flew to an island and got help from a dragon. Then came back. She saw her daughter go to school, attending every music performance but leaving early for work. But she always came._

 _Izumi attended Miyoko's secondary school graduation, went undercover, read newspaper articles featuring her favorite little dissident. Izumi even infiltrated some of the college rallies, watching proudly as her daughter rallied hundreds to her cause._

"That is—" Miyoko asked.

"What I see every time I look at you, or think of you," Izumi replied. "I see your life, my life, the times we hurt and the times we celebrate. I see hope in you, hope for change. I see you doing everything I've wanted to do. I see you questioning all that is around you, challenging the state, your nation. I see you standing up to me. I thought what I saw was you being free."

"You were always there. You came to my recitals. Even the rallies where I spoke against you."

"I tried to if they were close, even if I couldn't stay the whole time."

"You helped Sunako too, with the hands."

"I tried. I'm still refining the design. I want them to be perfect for her, to last forever, to make up for lost time."

"How come I never knew? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to burden you with all of my challenges while you were so busy doing what you loved."

* * *

Masaru came to find the love of his life and their daughter whispering. She stroking the girl's head, just like she did when Yoko was just a baby. She noticed him then ignored him quickly for their girl's sake. He brought a pot of tea and three cups.

"Father came. I can feel him behind me," Miyoko said. "It's strange."

"What is?"

"For my bending to be so damn sensitive," Miyoko replied, rolling over to look up at her father. "It's like being able to see without seismic sense via the-"

"Electricity being conducted by his nerves?" Izumi asked with a smile.

"Yes," Miyoko confirmed.

Masaru reached out and felt her head. She was cooling, slowly.

"How are you feeling, sweet girl?" He asked.

Miyoko shrugged. "Alive, I guess. Am I still on Fire?"

He showed her her black hair. "Nope," he replied.

She sat up and rubbed her head. Why was she still so tired?

"Drink," Masaru said, pouring her a cup of tea, heating it, and sitting on the bed.

"How is everybody?" Izumi asked, accepting a cup.

"Well enough."

"Father, that's so descriptive," Miyoko muttered sarcastically. Masaru winked at her.

Izumi set down her cup after a few sips and laid back down. "How long did we sleep?"

"How long were you talking?" Masaru asked.

"An hour, maybe?" Izumi replied.

"About 31 hours," Masaru replied.

"Not bad," Izumi said, handing her cup back for more. She moved her daughter's hair behind her shoulder and stroked her jaw and neck.

"Mother, what is it like to have a child?" Miyoko asked.

"It's like having a piece of your soul ripped from your body and placed in this little mobile thing that never does stop running out into the middle of a busy street. It's terrifying," Izumi replied, combing her girl's hair with her fingers.

"And Father, is it different for you?" Miyoko asked.

"A little. I still care for you all, but for some reason, I am never as afraid as your mother for you. I knew you'd come home safe, while she was appalled I let you stay at school so late. I think fathers worry less about their children and innately have more trust in what they've taught them," Masaru replied, reaching out to place hand on Miyoko's shoulder.

* * *

That night, Iroh, Ursa, Takeo, Rikuto, Sasuke, and Miyoko all found themselves lounging around in one of the many parlors within the Royal Quarters of the Palace with Izumi and Masaru.

"Mother, don't you have somewhere to be?" Miyoko asked quietly as she sat farthest from the Fire, an icy blanket slung over her shoulders.

"Yes. Right here, with all of you."

"But isn't the Nation is in the midst of a crisis? I mean, we just found hundreds of missing persons, and cover-ups of organized crime and insurrection have just been revealed to the public. Shouldn't you all be more concerned?" Takeo asked.

"To deal with all that WITHOUT resorting to burning down the nation, I need a level head. And to have a level head, I need reassurance that my family is safe. Surely you understand that, Takeo?" Izumi replied, twirling her finger around the tail of one of her smaller dragons.

"But who will rule in your absence?"

"Grandfather Zuko, with Master Katara by his side. And when he's regent he never does like me to return very quickly. Cares for me a little too much I think. Sometimes forgets that I'm not still a child," Izumi said, yanking the tail of her Happiness. It squealed and the fire in the hearth turned blue and flared.

"Zumi!" Masaru hissed. "You're losing yourself again."

"Sorry," Izumi let go of the dragon completely and opened her hand, palm up. It growled at her, crawled into her palm reluctantly and vanished.

"Mother, I'm sorry for running," Miyoko said after long silence. "For taking time away from your duties and for causing a public disturbance with my—" she glanced at her black hair and saw it streak green for an instant. "—Fire."

"Don't be," Izumi replied. "If it's anyone's fault it's mine. I should have striven to give you—all of you-a better, more stable life. I'm sorry."

"It is no one's fault," Masaru said. "We all do the best we can with what we're given."

"Father, that's called having no self-accountability and results in long term denial-" Sasuke said hugging his knees, sitting by the fire for warmth. "The same denial that caused none of us to believe Taemon and the twins were capable of treason."

"Suke's right," Iroh said. "Maybe this mess is all of our fault."

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, we're a family. We should have checked in more with each other, looked out for one another. Handlers are one thing but they're not the same as blood," Iroh said.

"That's not true. Sunako loved me more than any of you ever did," Miyoko replied bitterly, shivering under her ice blanket.

"We didn't know you existed until you were twelve," Rikuto said.

"That's no excuse. You could have visited after—" Miyoko replied.

"I'm sorry," Rikuto replied, shifting uncomfortably.

Yoko froze. She had expected him to protest or deflect. Instead, he accepted. Izumi sat up a bit more. Masaru's head turned, intrigued.

"I could have, but I was a coward. I feared for my family. I was born an earthbender to the Fire Lord. I didn't want to risk exposing my father as a "filthy half breed" in this circle of conservatives and social elites. Everyone knew him as Masaru Lee, CEO of Earthen Fire Refineries. Nobody knew he was the son of Satoru Lee and Toph Beifong. They kept their son a secret, fearing he'd become a target for ransom. There are a million Lees in the Fire Nation; our father could have come from any of them.

"On top of that, I feared for my mother. If people found out I were an earthbender, they'd start prying. Might even break into our home and though our mother hid under the alias Ziyuan Feng, signs of the presence of royalty were littered all over the Earthen Fire Estate.

"Lastly, I feared for my siblings. I'm the second son—of my father, at least. Sorry Iroh, sometimes I forget you're still blood."

"No worries. We've been apart for so long."

"Discovery would no doubt lead to our immediate demise. It took a long time for Ma to lessen the people's support of their presence in the court before she could oust them without risk of mass revolt. I left when I was fifteen with Grandma Toph after one of her visits and when I wasn't hunting, I sat with her on the roots of the banyan tree and watched you all from afar. You're all rather infuriatingly good little actors, always trying not to be a burden on each other. I couldn't tell just how hurt you all were," Rikuto said. "There. I acknowledge my part. What's yours?"

"You really had so little faith that I could protect you from the Sages?" Izumi asked incredulously.

"Yes. They could leave you inconsolable for weeks with a single sentence!" Rikuto replied.

"Never again," Izumi decided, standing abruptly and turning to leave.

"Zumi!" Masaru went after her.

"Mum! You're not going to kill them!" Iroh yelled jumping in front of the door.

"No, I'm not. I'm going to finish that speech. You're right, Kuto. My weakness has enabled the Fire Sages and council too much power. If they want a strong Fire Nation, they shall have it, but the Fire Nation cannot be strong without cooperation with the other nations. None of you should be afraid to come home or be seen with us. Not anymore," Izumi decided. Iroh remained blocking her way, contemplating his mother's words.

"Can we help — with the speech or—," Ursa asked.

"We may be your children, but we've all learned much about how the people think in our travels and experiences. Use us, mother. Let us help you; stop trying to do everything alone. It has only destroyed you." Miyoko added.

Izumi thought for a moment. "Alright. I'll bring it here," she decided.

Then until midnight, Masaru watched as they all huddled around the table, passing the parchment around, checking and rechecking that all of their goals and demands had been stated. That Izumi's power was defined clearly and that there was no room for misinterpretation.

"What will you wear?" Ursa asked.

"My new costume." Izumi replied. "How about all of you?"

"United Forces Army Uniform," Iroh replied.

"Fire Nation Army Uniform," Takeo answered.

"I have half the mind to appear naked!" Rikuto exclaimed.

"Ooh gross! Kuto! No!" Ursa exclaimed as the others giggled.

"Then something green most likely. I'm not good at pre-planning my wardrobe for the next day," Rikuto replied with a shrug and a smile.

"Ursa?"

"I don't know,"

"Yoko?"

"Mother, can I borrow something from your closet?" Miyoko asked.

"Mine?" Izumi verified. Her younger daughter nodded. "Always!"

"Can I too, then?" Ursa asked.

"Sure. You can pick now or in the morning. Now we should all get some sleep," Izumi said. She went around the table kissing each of her children on the head.

"Can we stay up a little while longer?"

"You don't have to ask me that, you're all responsible adults. Have fun with each other, loves. Thank you for lighting my way in the darkness," Izumi said, pausing at the door with her hand in Saru's.

"Yoko, will you be okay tonight, on your own?" Masaru asked.

Miyoko nodded uncertainly but before Izumi could say anything, Ursa chipped in. "You can come sleep with me. I know I'm not as powerful as Mom but I can still handle a little flame if anything does happen. We can bond over our mutual detestation of the Fire Sages and our love for Mom's secret wardrobe before we go to sleep. What do you think?"

"Sure. I'd like that, just you and me without all of the cousins yapping until morning," Miyoko smiled.

Their brothers and parents laughed.

"Why do you and Iroh call Mother Mom?" Sasuke asked.

"Why do you all call Ma Mother?" Rikuto asked.

"It sounds more respectful." Sasuke replied.

"It sounds stiff and boring and old!" Ursa argued.

Izumi giggled quietly. She never did notice some call her one thing and not the other. She always just appreciated still being called.

* * *

 _ **A/N I did mention that 22 was the only thing keeping me from finishing this thing... It was mostly true. I still have to fix the wedding :))) Hope you haven't given up on this story! (next chapter in a bit... I have four finals this week... EEK)  
**_

 _ **-j**_

 _ **xx**_


	54. 2,24 The Pledge

The skies were clear and the sun already high by 9AM that spring morning. Izumi woke before Masaru for probably the first time in at least five decades and delved into her closet to designate a section of clothes she was sure her daughters would fit nicely. It took great effort to restrain herself from outright choosing for them. She had to admit, she did have a rather nice collection of gowns. Not that she never appreciated wearing them, of course. She was always too annoyed by the restricting corsets and her ridiculous schedule to even think about what she was wearing.

"My Lord, I am sure that you've already set aside plenty of options for your girls," Iliana commented, entering Izumi's closet finding the Fire Lord still mulling over the selection she'd laid out.

"It's still never enough," Izumi whispered before looking up to her beloved maid. "Did you find a full-length mirror?"

"It is being brought in as we speak," Iliana replied, motioning to two servants carrying the beautifully ornate and heavy standalone piece into the Fire Lord's closet.

"Thank you very much," Izumi said, bowing to the servants. They bowed back and left.

"Did Mr. Lee have mirrors for you at the Earthen Fire Estate?" Iliana asked, rounding the bench to stand beside her charge.

"He did in the children's bathrooms, but not never. My Mother forbade it," Izumi replied.

"Her power reached beyond the Palace, it seems." Iliana noted, placing her hands on Izumi's shoulders as the Fire Lord looked at herself for the first time in a long time.

"Naturally. She was the Fire Lady after all— and the first to earn her title any authority. Her power reached the entire country," Izumi reminded her maid.

"Ah, but of course! It was quite a time of change!" Iliana sighed nostalgically.

"Iliana, may I ask you a question?" Izumi asked, sitting on a crimson and velvet chair in her expansive closet.

"Yes, My Lord?"

"Am I really so resistant to change?" She clasped her fingers together, balanced her elbows on her knees. It was a position not at all befitting for a woman of her stature, but she was increasingly losing care for formalities if that care wasn't low enough already.

"How do you mean?"

"Yoko mentioned something yesterday, about me not actually being interested in progress but routine, for the sake of peace and stability, and I wanted to know, what do you think," Izumi explained. "Is she right?"

"I think that Miyoko was incredibly hurt and angry yesterday and probably said a lot of things she didn't mean-"

"She is never not genuine. Disregard her emotional state and answer my question. Have my actions and choices during my reign made any progress towards creating a more accepting and internationally cooperative nation, or have they been exactly the same as the Fire Lords before me?"

"I think that you have made many decisions that differentiate you from previous Fire Lords. While they do move the nation towards your vision, the progress is slow and barely noticeable to most-"

"I didn't want to incite panic!" Izumi cried defensively, throwing her head back in frustration.

Iliana grabbed her charge's shoulders and stilled her before she could injure her own neck thrashing. "My Lord, restrain yourself. In all honesty, I believe you could afford to up the ante. You don't need to be as cautious now that people are used to you and your rule, my Lord."

"Thank you, Iliana." Izumi placed a hand on the maid's wrist.

"Any time, My Lord."

"Zumiya!" Saru yelled, throwing off the covers and leaping out of bed frantically.

"Here!" Izumi ran out of her closet.

Masaru let out a sigh of relief. "You haven't woken before me since we were seven. I was worried you might have gone on a midnight stroll and not returned or something," Masaru said, kissing her passionately.

"I'm sorry for frightening you. I just happened to wake earlier than usual. I would have gone back to bed but the excitement about today was too great."

"I'm glad you're okay," Masaru replied, resting his chin on her forehead and gently combing her hair with his hand.

"Ma?"

"Mother?"

Both Saru and Izumi turned to find Miyoko and Ursa at the door. "I'll leave you girls to it," he said, grabbing his clothes off of a chair and leaving to a secondary chamber, kissing both Ursa and Miyoko on the head on his way out.

"You're still not dressed?" Ursa asked, giggling noticing her mother still in her underclothes.

Izumi looked out the window. "I'm not usually up until nine, if you would believe it. Gave Saru a heart attack; he thought I was missing when he woke to find the other side of the bed empty."

Both girls laughed. "You guys really are so cute together!"

"You think so?" Izumi asked, leading them into her closet. "Iliana also unearthed a mirror for you two. I made some pre-selections that I know will fit but if you don't like any of them, this section should also be accommodating in terms of size," Izumi said, indicating a few sections of racks of gowns. "In the meantime, I have a new uniform." Izumi took off her robes and picked up a deep burgundy leotard with long sleeves. In quick succession she pulled on a pair of thin, long nylon socks, dark pants, knee high boots, and coat. Finally, she opened her favorite drawer of her favorite dresser and pulled out her leather gauntlets, already filled with stilettos.

"That was fast," Ursa said. Izumi looked up and noticed both girls staring at her.

"I know! Isn't it great?" she asked, smiling smugly. No more painful corsets that had to be laced in two twenty-minute sessions, no more heavy ceremonial armor, no more dragging skirts and cumbersome sleeves. Hers stopped just above her elbow so everyone could see just how armes to the teeth she really was. "They called me 'Armadillo Lion' in the Army."

"I didn't know you ever served in the army!" Ursa exclaimed.

Miyoko raised a skeptical brow. "I thought you weren't allowed to since heirs and spares were your primary purpose."

"Search the books for Ziyuan Feng. And try bring up heirs and spares with my dear aunt Azula. I have her to thank for many things," Izumi replied, absentmindedly checking her hair in the mirror, before turning her attention to her daughters dressing.

"Mama, shouldn't you be reviewing the speech we made last night?" Ursa asked.

"Yes, but I'd rather watch you two instead. You're much more interesting to me!" Izumi claimed taking a seat.

"That sounds kind of creepy," Miyoko mumbled as she chose a simpler robe with no collar or sleeves, then moving to her one of her mother's jewelry boxes for a gold necklace.

Izumi scoffed and rolled her eyes while Ursa laughed. "How did you both sleep?"

"Better without the air babies yapping all night," Miyoko replied.

"Oh please! You know you like them!" Ursa insisted.

"I do like them, just not their incessant need to always fill perfectly good silence!" Miyoko replied.

"Maybe it's just their culture-"

"To constantly be airbending out of every orifice when not using their hands or feet?" Miyoko asked.

"Okay, Yoko, enough criticizing the Air Babies! They're goofy little children, just like you were once!"

"For maybe a day before I wisened up," Miyoko replied, trying on a necklace.

Izumi sighed and decided not to keep pestering.

* * *

Takeo, and Rikuto decided to join Izumi on stage. They would stand behind her, in the background, but nonetheless acknowledge their association with her so the press would get used to them being together until they could be legitimized. Meanwhile, Sasuke and Miyoko decided to continue to enjoy their privacy and maintain their relative anonymity.

Genkei walked out first followed by Sunako, Tadashi, and Hiryur.

Sunako hung a canvas banner on the stage for the photographs, then bent a whole pot of ink and water together. She let the black and blue inks mix and separate, then splattered the black onto the canvas, printing the title of the speech Izumi would give in just a few minutes time.

 ** _The Pledge_**

 ** _Fire Lord Izumi Ido 15日_** ** _3月_** ** _175年_**

Over 10,000 military personnel were in attendance, flanking the main square outside the palace. In the main square, over 50,000 civilians gathered to get a glimpse of their Fire Lord and hopefully learn about what that giant flaming figure was that they saw a few days ago.

"Please welcome your Fire Lord, IZUMI!" Genkei announced. Izumi walked out to the center of the stage, followed by her three sons who stood off to one side. Tadashi dipped into a horse stance and slammed his foot onto the ground lifting Izumi up above everybody. Hiryur bent a ring of Fire, then passed it to Izumi, who used it to light every torch in the massive square, including the farthest over a quarter mile away from the stage.

"I would like to speak to you today about the illusion of separation. The borders that exist between us and the other four nations are not meant to divide us, but to organize us into factions of those with similar circumstances, values, and needs. Within these factions, leaders who can better understand the needs of those under their jurisdiction strive to aid their people as they see fit.

"Seventy-five years ago, my father, Fire Lord Zuko, began an era of peace in the Fire Nation. With the Avatar and their friends, they expanded that peace beyond our borders to the rest of world. Now, we are ALL one people united not under one banner flying high, or one person up on some dias, but as one species that wants to survive. We all need each other to thrive as we race into the future. Regardless of ethnicity, age, and ability, every single one of us have our part to play in this game of life.

"Still, some of our own seem to have forgotten this and have resorted to killing in a futile attempt to obtain a power that should not be wielded by anyone but the Avatar. The network of training grounds used by these traitors as a breeding ground for special benders has been uncovered and dismantled. The children that were kidnapped to form this army have all received medical evaluation and are in the process of being returned to living family members. Those without, will become wards of the Palace. The three core leaders of this operation have all been stripped of their bending. They no longer pose any threat to the status of our great nation have been sentenced to a life of labor directly serving any government sector where labor is needed.

"Now that they've been dealt with their leaders incapacitated and imprisoned, I would like to address any person or entity that seeks to disrupt the delicate balance we have so painstakingly worked to establish and maintain in the last seventy-five years. Be warned that any treasonous acts or insurrection in any country shall provoke the wrath of the Grand Master of the Air Nomads, the Chieftains of the Northern and Southern Water Tribe, the Earth Queen AND the Fire Lord combined.

"Together, we will triumph over injustice and tyranny."

Izumi opened both hands with her palms facing up towards the sky. She took a deep breath and without even blinking, released her inner fire. Blue flames sprouting from her head and hands engulfed first her body, then expanded, forming into a standing likeness of herself.

It fully materialized, and Izumi lowered her hands. She curled her fingers into fists and blasted herself up into the air to its chest level, still with the microphone on. She tore it off of her collar and disintegrated it, scattering the ashes to the wind, and then through the fire, in a voice that could be heard from as far as Republic City, she added:

"Lastly, I would like to announce that I am DONE apologizing for the crimes of my ancestors. I am not Sozin or Azulon or Ozai. I am Fire Lord Izumi, daughter of Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai, and I shall dedicate the remainder of my life to maintaining that peace that my father, Avatar Aang, and their friends helped to create. Anyone who thinks they can stop me, will be burned."

 _Damn, Mommy,_ Rikuto thought, folding his arms and leaning on one foot.

"Hey!" Takeo whispered to remind him to stand straight.

"What? I'm not in an army," Rikuto shrugged. Izumi dissipated the massive flaming version of herself and landed on a balcony.

Genkei took over the rest of the announcements, debriefing the people of the last week's events, the investigation on the outer isles, the Rogues targeting young members of the family, the rescue mission that turned into a battle, the capture and trial of the three leaders of the operation as well as the loss of their bending.

"And the Fire Lord's Flames! What was that?" A reporter asked.

Only then did Genkei look to be at a loss of words. Masaru put Miyoko's hand in Ursa's and jumped up on the stage, eliciting gasps from the press, civilians and military personnel.

"The Fire Lord's Flames is the physical manifestation of all of her Lordship's energy. It is a result of her inner fire coming out of her body in a time of dire need. The ability is not new to our nation but is one that has not been seen for tens of thousands of years. It's bearers are those who understand that Fire is life and that life must be preserved. It is a warm and compassionate entity and not a destructive force unless it's host desperately needs it to be. Once out, it can act on its own accord, as the Fire Lord's did when it carried her unconscious body to safety at the end of the battle on Sunday morning," Masaru informed the crowd.

"And the girl with the green flames! Who was she?"

"She will reveal herself when and only if she is ready. If that is all, I wish you all a good day. Regular government sessions will resume Monday," Masaru announced, handing the microphone back to Genkei before heading back into the palace.

"I think that's our cue to retreat," Ursa said, holding Miyoko's hands. Sasuke put his arms around them both and nodded to their brothers on stage and lead them towards the palace.

"The girl with the green hair!"

"Help me shield her!" Sasuke yelled. Ursa and Sasuke both put their arms around her and acted as her eyes.

"Who knew the greatest political activist from Ranshao Rikai University would be so damn camera shy?" Ursa laughed once they were safely inside.

"Do you want her to explode again?" Sasuke asked, frowning at Ursa.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Izumi said as she appeared from around the corner, throwing her arms around the three all at once with Masaru and the oldest three sons running after her.

"Us? Mom! You just flipped off the world!" Miyoko scolded instantly.

"I said exactly what was written last night-" Izumi insisted.

"-with that added last bit—" Miyoko reminded her.

"-for emphasis!"

"Alright, alright, why don't we all just, calm down," Rikuto interjected, stepping between them and physically earthbending them apart by the ground beneath their feet.

After a moment, Miyoko spoke. "Is that it then? You make a speech and then what? What will the other world leaders call you for? And where does that leave the Avatar? Isn't she supposed to be the world policeman?"

"She's probably blowing her girlfriend—" Izumi replied, folding her arms.

"Zumi!" Masaru snapped.

"Ma!" Ursa hissed.

"Sorry! Maybe we can work together. Sometime soon, I'll will host a summit either here or in the embassy at Republic City to flesh out the details of that project," Izumi suggested

"Does this mean you will become even more busy than you already are?" Miyoko asked disappointedly.

"Hopefully less busy, since I shall set parameters that only allow me to be called in the event of imminent catastrophe," Izumi replied.

"Wouldn't it be easier to tear out a single contaminated plant before it kills the entire crop?" Rikuto asked.

"Ai! Good point," Izumi sighed, lifting her hand to her head as her hair streaked blue.  
"None of those things need to be decided immediately. In fact, I think we all need a break," Masaru said, putting a hand on the back of Izumi's neck. She tensed at first, then let out a sigh and her hair turned black. She turned to Saru. "We were supposed to marry last Saturday."

"Well, shit happens," Sasuke shrugged.

"How about we marry tomorrow. I'm sure the country can last a day without us hovering. THEN we can hold the summit and finish cleaning up this mess." Masaru suggested.

"So you're finally going to do it?" Miyoko asked skeptically.

"Unless you guys don't want us to," Izumi said, letting go of Saru's hand quickly.

"What?" Masaru asked, shocked.

"No, we want you to," Iroh confirmed, putting a hand on his mother's shoulder. "It's just been so long that we began to doubt if it would ever happen."

Izumi was relieved.

"You can't escape me that easily," Masaru said, pulling the Fire Lord into a rather uncharacteristically aggressive kiss, amusing their children.

"Mother, will the Earth Queen's second son be allowed to come?" Takeo asked, deciding against mentioning Taemon and the twins after what happened to Miyoko the day of the trial.

"Since he is being treated as an invader to the nation, I'll have to consult my political advisors on what is appropriate. We'll see," Izumi replied diplomatically.

* * *

Izumi led her two of her most trusted League members to the guest chambers where the Beifongs were staying, marching straight into the Earth Queen's room.

"I have a gift for you," she said, stepping aside to reveal Huan walking, unbound and flanked by Izumi's guards. "He too has been stripped of his bending, and as soon as he leaves the country will be placed on a ten year ban from entering the Fire Nation without explicit, written permission from the Fire Lord." Izumi informed Suyin, watching the faces of the mother and son closely. Neither looked happy in the slightest to see each other. In a flash, Suyin raised her hand and punched him. His cheek bruised instantly and his lip split, leading Huan to spit out blood and a tooth. Izumi's eyes narrowed, calculating. Why would little Suyi would do such a thing?

"How could you?" the founder Zaofu asked of her son. "How could you be so stupid? How could you besmirch our good name with such delinquency?!"

"Mother, I don't think it's called delinquency when the crimes are committed with full awareness by a grown man!"

"You call yourself a man?" Suyin asked.

"Well I'm not a child, so what else remains?" Huan asked wearily.

"You are my child and therefore I will treat you as such!"

"And how is that supposed to help him learn and grow, exactly?" Izumi asked, stepping in front of her future nephew.

"What?" Suyin looked up.

"I thought I was being merciful by releasing him into your care, but if you're just going to use your son as a punching bag upon which you vent your frustrations, then I WILL keep him in my custody!" Izumi decided.

"You can't!" Suyin shrieked with tears streaming down her face.

"Genkei, Tadashi-" Izumi called.

The two men walked over, helped Huan off the floor, and led him to the infirmary to get his lip patched and tooth replaced.

"Have you struck your other children like that?" Izumi asked incredulously, looking at the blank space where Huan stood moments before and the puddle of blood and broken tooth left on the floor.

"Have you?" Suyin retorted challengingly.

"Only twice. Moments apart. When Tetsuya tried to kill himself thinking it would please his littlest sister, NEVER before. My outburst shocked him and Yoko. They didn't think I could hit them after a lifetime of what I had hoped was perceived as love and kindness. They thought they were immune— that my love for them would always triumph over my rage— and it has until then when Tsuya needed a reminder of his place. Huan on the other hand, didn't seem at all surprised by your behavior, as if he saw it as just another day of standard treatment and he was tired of it—"

"I had to do what I had to to make him less weak!" Suyin yelled, turning away and folding her arms like a petulant little girl receiving a lecture.

"Huan is not weak, he's smart. Just because he isn't a stellar athlete like your beloved twins does not mean there is something wrong with him!" Izumi argued.

"Intellectuals don't win wars! Strong soldiers do!"

"Oh really? Then how do you think my Great-Great-Grandfather Sozin managed to win the Battle of Han Tui despite being outnumbered 20-1?"

"I don't need a history lesson!" Suyin replied, walking away haughtily.

"You do if you're going to remain the Earth Queen!" Izumi replied, blocking the door. Even though Sozin's army was outnumbered, he cleverly calculated his advantages. The enemy was downwind and there was a drought. Their defenses burned to a crisp in minutes. And who thought of that? The intellectual strategists! Huan is worth no less just because he had no interest in fighting. And whatever you thought you were doing didn't make him stronger. It didn't teach him anything but how to distrust everyone, especially those who are supposed to love!"

"How do you know what I did to him?"

"Because I pay attention to my children and others. I know how they behave—"

"Your children tried to murder you and you never saw it coming!"

"They still always fought for a good cause at least!" Izumi replied.

"You can't actually agree with what they wanted enough to try to defend them!"

"Don't try to change the subject, Suyi. Did you beat Baatar Junior too? Is that why he was so eager to leave with Kuvira four years ago? Is that why he was so keen to permanently dispose of you during the last Siege Of Republic City—"

"Don't say his name!"

"—Was it because he was your first born and a non-bender? Did you think him weak too?" Izumi asked.

Suyin screamed and bent a rock out of the floor and launched it at Izumi's face. She raised a concealed blade and it cut clean through the rock, falling on either side of her hand. Suyin looked over, eyes wide at the shortsword the length of half of the Fire Lord's arm. She stowed it so quickly that Suyin couldn't even see or predict where it was hidden.

"If you weren't Masaru's sister, I'd have you imprisoned for what I just saw and what I can interpret by that look on your son's face, Earth Queen or not. As of tomorrow, your family will officially become my family by law, and if you haven't noticed, **_my_** family doesn't mind pruning away the branches that pose a threat to the rest of the tree."

Suyin frowned but said nothing. Izumi took a step back. "I'll see you tomorrow at noon for the wedding." And she left.

* * *

The room was entirely dark except for the faint glow of Izumi's Heart and Masaru's Husband Dragons. Her hand curled around the top of Masaru's arm as he stroked her cheek ever so smoothly.

"I worry about Suyin—" Izumi sighed with a heavy sadness.

"She'll come to her senses eventually." Masaru reassured her.

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Why?"

"I know Su. I knew her. You know those scars on Lin's face? Su gave them to her and never even acknowledged her fault in any way. She just deflects blame."

"Well maybe we can help open her eyes. We'll have a lot more time once you retire."

"But what if she doesn't want to be helped-"

"She doesn't. Even after you've abdicated, you will still have the ears of the other world leaders on your side."

"Do you think she could have beaten Baatar Junior, and maybe even Kuvira?"

"I feel like my agents would have told me if that were so."

"What if she found out about your agents, and paid them off or did something to gain their allegiance, like Taemon did to our Amber League?" Izumi asked.

"Then I guess I need to re-evaluate our hold on the organization. But not tonight, or tomorrow, please. Izumi, we're getting married! Can you rest for one night? And not worry?"

"I'll try."

"I'll remember everything so we can resume this discussion after the wedding. In the meantime, try to clear your mind of your duty."

"I will," Izumi replied, curling into his chest as they lay on the bed.

"What will you wear tomorrow?" He asked, combing his fingers through her silky hair.

"I'll wear whatever you'd like me to wear," Izumi replied, walking her fingers up his chest.

"Are you sure that is wise, my Love?"

"Yes, because I trust you," Izumi replied softly.

"And what if I told you I'd like you to wear nothing but your birthday suit?" Masaru asked with a devious grin in the moonlight. She looked up at his face, illuminated by the glow of their dragons laying across their pillows.

"You wouldn't," she replied with a chuckle.

"How do you know?" He asked, wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her against him completely.

"Because I am yours and you are mine, and we swore when we got together that we would only ever be like that for each other's eyes," Izumi replied, touching his bottom lip with her thumb.

"And that is right!" Masaru said, rolling over on top of her kissing her neck. She ran her hands down his muscular back as he made a trail of kisses from her chin to her navel. "Would you wear a corset for me?"

"I said anything, but I would ask why. I thought you didn't like seeing me in pain."

"And you're right, I don't like seeing you in pain," Masaru said, resting his chin on her chest, looking up at her from between her breasts. "But I thought it would be nice if when night comes, I can be the one to permanently relieve you of that abomination. We will make it your last time for forever, and when the ceremony is over, we'll BURN it, together, just like you've always wanted to. We'll finally be free of those chains that bound us to that past life!" Masaru replied, his hair turning red in his elation.

Izumi laughed. "You're usually much more controlled than me when it comes to this sort of thing," she said, flipping his bangs into his face so he could see.

He laughed and pushed it away. "Well, time changes people, and things," he replied, delving into her body.

* * *

 **The last chapter was supposed to be this one and include the Pledge, the Wedding, and the Hunt. But the Wedding is taking longer than expected even though the Hunt is done. Well, here is the Pledge! Hope you enjoy!**


End file.
